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Don’t Waste Your Time at Midnight Launches…They Suck!

Don’t Waste Your Time at Midnight Launches…They Suck!

Folks, we need to talk about a little something. ‘Tis the season for major game releases. These are the titles you’ve been waiting for all year. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate , Halo 5 , Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 , Fallout 4 , and Star Wars Battlefront are all on the way. It’s tempting to give into that “first” mentality and be up at midnight to run to the store and get a copy, but don’t. It’s not a good idea for you or anyone else.

First, you really shouldn’t have to go to all that effort anymore. If you’ve been to at least one midnight launch, you know what I mean. While there may be promises of some sort of “party,” it’s never any fun. You’re forced to make small talk with people who are all half dead after long days at work or school. The employees don’t want to be there. The event itself isn’t entertaining, and the ability to preload digital copies of games makes it easier to grab it online early and wait for the unlock.

It’s not as though having it those few extra hours really matters. Even if you take the day it releases off, you’re going to have to sleep eventually. While you do, everyone who waited to purchase and play at a reasonable hour is catching up, so by day two everyone is already back on the same page. The only difference between the two people is by day two, those who weren’t up at midnight are rested and ones who were aren’t.

But let’s get back to other people. Remember earlier, how I said the employees don’t want to be there for that midnight launch event? Their companies forced them. Often, people at a place like GameStop are told they’re going to come in and work the event, no matter what their usual schedule is. By attending, you’re forcing people to work ungodly hours.

Don’t Waste Your Time at Midnight Launches…They Suck!

What’s worse is that these events often aren’t hugely popular unless it’s something like a Call of Duty or Fallout game. So these employees aren’t even there for a good reason. When I attended a Mass Effect 3 launch event at a Chicago GameStop, five people showed up. There were more people at a midnight “launch” event to pick up the wave 6 amiibo at Meijer. Even a Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain launch I visited with a friend was rather weak, with 10 people appearing in the store.

Midnight launch events are outdated. They aren’t good for any of the people who choose to show up or the poor employees who have to work them. It’s far healthier and easier to go online and either buy a digital copy that can be pre-loaded or arrange for a release date delivery that will arrive by the time you’re home from school or work. Save yourself some time and energy. The game will be just as exciting at a more reasonable hour, like 8am, as it will at 12:01am.

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