Games are longer now than ever before.
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!