Last year, October 7 was set up to be a day that would demolish your bank account. In April 2014, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, and Alien: Isolation were all squared up to release that day. As we now know, history (and business sense) switched up that conundrum.
While Alien: Isolation stood firm, Shadow of Mordor moved up a week and Dragon Age: Inquisition was pushed to November. This year’s set-up is a little different, but it’s going to be a showdown of epic proportions.
Yesterday, Blizzard announced that its third and final installment in the Starcraft II triptych will hit on November 10. That day is already crowded by the Xbox One and Xbox 360 versions of Rise of the Tomb Raider and the long-anticipated release of Fallout 4 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
Unlike last year, there’s not quite so much overlap in genre and gameplay style across these three games. Still, we have to wonder if something is going to give.
Starcraft II will come hot on the heels of Blizzcon, which takes place on November 6 and 7. It also has a built-in eSports following that suggests it won’t move.
That puts Tomb Raider and Fallout in a staring contest, and neither might blink. Bethesda made a big show of its “so soon” November release date at E3, and Microsoft has Tomb Raider pinned between Halo 5 on October 27 (two weeks earlier) and Black Friday (two weeks later).
Lara Croft is one of Microsoft’s pillars for its “greatest games lineup in Xbox history” claim, so it can’t move far. But Microsoft also has to know that Fallout 4 is a formidable opponent for time, budget, and mindshare that week.
Will one of these titans move? If so, it’ll have to happen soon. What are your predictions for November 10? Will everyone stand tall, scraping for your attention and wallet? Or will someone give, and if so who?