Games are longer now than ever before.

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Gone are the days of 1-run-and-done games. While I appreciate replayability in a title, some studios and games are upping the hours in a game considerably to extend playthroughs further. Take the most recent Assassin's Creed title, Valhalla, and its upcoming crossover mission and DLC. With these, Valhalla is easily packing 100+ hours across core gameplay, side missions, and more. This doesn't even take into account the time that may go into a game that offers multiple endings and a dynamic RPGing experience. That said, Ubisoft isn't the only one extending their games. CD Projekt Red, Bungie, and other big-hitter studios are familiar with years-long game plans and stretching the longevity of a game's popularity through updates, patches, and more. 

Conversations over game length have been stirred up over Techland's recent comments regarding Dying Light 2, which will reportedly take about 500 hours to 100%. Some fans are exhausted just thinking about a game that long, while others are thrilled to have even more things to occupy their time in the games they love. 

The sometimes heated discussions over game length aren't anything new, and the tables can flip when some short-but-sweet titles are brought up in contrast. An example in this debate is Death Loop, a game some critics claim is too short to provide a satisfactory ending to the story. It seems there are no winners in this dialogue, but I still think it's an interesting discussion to have, particularly in light of many studios being bought, traded, or unionized as work demands in the gaming industry change with the times.

I figured in light of recent news and trending discussions, I'd bring the conversation to the people! So my question to the community is: Are games too long these days? What are your thoughts? 

Let me know below!

Replies • 82
brominator

A good game can be short, or long, i dont care but at least dont put out something like BF: 2042 ever again.


Solar

I think it's not a one size fits all aproach, sometimes you need a 5 minute shoot em up and other times a long story that develops and challenges. It really depends on what type of games you love and how much time you have available. Some MMORPGs can take months out of your life, but I feel I got value and reward from them.


Dead by Backlog

if open world(ish) game I think its fine to take more time to complete 


Interstellar

it's sometimes annoying that i have to play trought a 20-30 hour game just to get an other achievement, but games can be too short aswell



Interstellar

Will they be able to cram enough variety to fill 500 hours or will it be a lot of grinding, repetitive missions and tons of meaningless collectibles?


Interstellar

There always should be a balance of not too short but not too long games. Trust me. A grindfest game ain't fun.


Gold Master

The main problem with the modern games is the huge amount of storage they need. Do you remember such games as Deus Ex or Morrowind? They were sold on 650-700 MB CDs, but you could also play for hours. And nowadays? You need 50 GB for Valhalla, 70 GB for Cyberpunk, over 150 GB for RDR2. That's insane! surprise


I enjoy that devs make longer games. Becasue the main story on any game usually end quick. So once the main quest is done, you can contiune to play the game if you enjoy it more and for longer period.
And if you dont like to play long games, you can just play the main story and be done with the game ^^