False release dates...

[Histfire]

Anybody else noticing some games have recent release dates but they've actually been out for years? I've noticed it on a few games now and I think they're considering content packs or feature updates as a reason to change the dates of the main product to have a later release date and give the impression that the entire game is newer than it is. This is kind of misleading. I can understand the psychological reason behind it, but it's not a good thing to be doing. Not cool Steam, you got to cut down on that kind of sneakiness.

[Crazy Tiger]

Publishers set the release dates. Some choose the date they release the game on Steam and not when it was originally released.

Technically they're not wrong.

[Amon]

I believe that the release date refers to the release on the Steam platform. It should display both dates somewhere on the game description page. Some of the old games I have are like that.

[Histfire]

Originally posted by Brockenstein:

Well do you have any examples?

I mean I've seen this with older games that were released before Steam, but generally it's just the date it was released on Steam. And depending on the particulars you might just be putting too much importance on the release date if you have really specific opinions about what that date should be.

I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just wondering does it really matter even if you have some examples?

Yes I've seen it on games that came before Steam that were released on Steam later, like old classics and ported titles and that's perfectly fine, but existing games that have been on Steam for a couple of years should not be having their main title release dates marked as being a fairly recent release (or in a recent case I saw a brand new release).

I have examples but by being needlessly defensive of Steam (bias given it houses the majority of your game library) I won't be sharing (despite it only being a few titles that I've personally seen). I have no intention of diving through thousands upon thousands of games to tally the numbers to appease the subtlety of naysayers. This nonsense on Steam can lead some to think a game is newer than it is and may be supported or popular for longer. I don't care if you think it is a minor issue and whether it's okay being a technicality but it's still the wrong thing to do as it falls under misrepresentation. I know for a fact that many folks like to know how ancient or new a game is before committing. A newer game in the eyes of people immediately brings to mind longer support, fixes and features. Old games should not have their initial release dates changed, if anything they should have an initial release date and a major update release date on the store page to better inform people.

Now before everybody comes to defend o' glorious Steam I'm going to unsubscribe to this thread because I've already made my point. Be honest about release dates for the main product, don't change them to make people think the game is newer than it is (or make it out to be a completely new product release).

[Crazy Tiger]

Actually, providing examples would have helped you explain the issue better. For all we know you're looking at a game that got an enhanced edition, which would make a newer release date logical.

I'm also curious what this has to do with "Steam defenders", when the issue you're talking about is a publisher issue. An why they should be honest, when you yourself don't want to be that yourself.

[Crazy Tiger]

Originally posted by A no brainer:

Even more fun: Portal 2, a game from Valve themselves shows on my library under "unknown release date", if I sort the library for release dates. I guess that shows well how unimportant it is for Valve if this information is there and if it is there if it makes any sense.

At least the store page has a release date listed. Would have found it amazing when that page listed "unknown, don't even care"

[morgoth13]

No no no, it's clearly pointless to continue the discussion because only brainwashed loyalists are going to reply. The point has been made and is obviously correct and any disagreement is obviously invalid for reasons that should be obvious. Steam itself will certainly read this and see the error of its ways.


Being serious, I have seen this with some older games that were only recently released on Steam as already mentioned. Usually in the description it will say something along the lines of "the classic game that fans have loved since 2006 now comes to Steam" or whatnot, but probably not always. Reviews will usually clear up any confusion about it... but it should be standard practice for the devs to mention the game's actual age if they want to be good people. A little bit of research will always tell you but we all know doing that is hard.

The other time I've seen a little confusion with release dates is on Early Access games. While in EA they will use their original EA date and then when the game is finished and goes to full release they frequently change the date to the full release date. Which makes perfect sense because an EA game is not a finished, fully released game. So the official release date should be changed to the official release. Some people get really cranky about EA games, consider anything that you can buy to be fully released, and scrutinize anything that the developer does later as a potential attack or scam on their customers. That is of course a problem with the end user, if probably encouraged by a small handful of crummy devs over the years(but mostly by angry people yelling on the internet).

Otherwise it could be a substantially upgraded edition with completely reworked mechanics and lots of new content... which could of course be a matter of opinion and potentially deceptive to some people.

But I guess we'll never know.

[Crazy Tiger]

Errrm, Brock. I think morgoth13 was being rather sarcastic in his first paragraph.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by A no brainer:

Even more fun: Portal 2, a game from Valve themselves shows on my library under "unknown release date", if I sort the library for release dates. I guess that shows well how unimportant it is for Valve if this information is there and if it is there if it makes any sense.

It is a bug they know about.

[Satoru]

Steam's default is that it will set the release date to when the game was released on Steam

Developers can override this if they want to reflect a different kind of release date

If you think a release date is 'innacurate' feel free to go scream at the developers to change it.

[Mad Scientist]

Nothing like saying "just trust me on this I have no examples but you have to believe me", you'd think there'd be at least one example. Then you just attempt to dismiss any and all potential responses as "needlessly defending steam" when you don't realize as pointed out, Steam doesn't determine these dates - and individuals like you will constantly blame/point fingers at Steam instead of realizing who's doing what. In life you'll learn the hard way.

Some things that can affect release date:
-Actual date of release
-Release date for Steam; not a Steam original and having been somewhere else for a prolonged period of time.
-Remake/Remastered or Deluxe edition, collectors edition, or other editions that are clearly not the original
-PC Port release date

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by Dr.Coomer:

-PC Port release date

Yup! People are still mad about RDR2's date.

[Brian9824]

Originally posted by Khai-FX:

I have examples but by being needlessly defensive of Steam (bias given it houses the majority of your game library) I won't be sharing (despite it only being a few titles that I've personally seen). I have no intention of diving through thousands upon thousands of games to tally the numbers to appease the subtlety of naysayers.

So you want to complain about an issue, but won't name a single game that has the issue? No one is asking you to dive thru thousands of games and tally the numbers, but you can't claim an issue without actually showing the issue.

Mod's might as well close the thread if your not even gonna provide an example of the issue....

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Originally posted by Dr.Coomer:

-PC Port release date

Yup! People are still mad about RDR2's date.

:qr:

They should be thankful it even got a PC port, a good number of fairly good games don't get that.

[Richael]

Reviving a dead thread, but I was wondering if anyone knows how to fix broken / technically wrong release dates? I got an FPS collection and some games like Descent 2, Witchaven, and Portal 2 either have "recent" release dates or "no" release dates (in the case of Portal 2)

[Kargor]

As was already said before, it's the publishers that determine the release dates. As a user, you don't "fix" them.