The latest YouTube post by Media Molecule has been up 2 days and has 229 comments. Instead of the usual “this looks amazing” type comments there has definitely been a shift in the mood of the commentators to more “for goodness sake give us a release date” type comments.
Just to show the difference between each Dev stream. Here are the top responses to the videos on the first page
March
April
Such an underrated game. Can’t wait to buy! (56 likes)
-What’s the definition of amazing developpers ? -Media Molecule: « Watch this » 😍❤ (41 likes)
We need a release date. My fingers are already burning and I want to try it out. I have so many ideas. You are so extremely amazing. 😉 (37 likes)
May
I absolutely can’t wait for this! Thanks MM you guys have potentially freed us all. (49 likes)
TAKE MY MONEY (16 likes)
I can’t believe how underhyped Dreams have been by most of the community! This is by far my most anticipated exclusive. (36 likes)
June
It’s like time is going suuuuuuper slow while waiting for this game. (60 likes)
Can we please get an announcement of a release date or a beta or a release date of a beta or a date on which you would announce the release date of a beta or SOMETHING?? I’m going crazy (48 likes)
I still believe this game will be a PS4 exclusive and not the PS5 launch title. But what I don’t get is that we still haven’t gotten the release date. Such a pitty. (22 likes)
R E L E A S E D A T E (12 likes)
We are also starting to get more negative responses
When are you going to show something that is made in a realistic art style and has complex gameplay mechanics? I know it can be done but most people might think the game is limited because you just show cartoony and kid friendly levels. (10 likes)
They seriously need a better marketing team too. It’s as if they’ve created the Mona Lisa but it’s hidden away in their attic. (5 likes)
From the latest video the presenter suggested at the very end of the stream that there is going to be at least another 3 dev streams – so that takes us up to October before we will get a release date. It is unclear what sort of Beta we will get as well. Will it be a long one – a weekend? Commentators are blaming Sony for gagging Media Molecule on a potential release date, as they have strict policies on not issuing release dates without 100% certainty (possibly after the fiasco of Dreams previous launch announcements), but 2018 is still the goal here. I think the marketing team and the community manager needs to rethink what they are putting out now. The E3 presentation was underwhelming – you could see it in the lacklustre response from their audience at E3 and the comments on the video itself – it was a disappointment.
Continually showing us Media Molecule having fun with their creation is not cutting it now. The making of videos are quite frankly overtly technical and a bit scary. The more I see of the complexity of Dreams the more I think it is going to put people off. It looks more complex than building your own computer from scratch. We need to see variety, a trailer that spells out the potential for the game clearly without whimsical and artistic flourishes or scary timelines and boards, and shows the types of levels you could make. If they aim it at the kids this is going to flop big time. They need to stop making cute stuff. Make stuff that appeals to the 25-50 year old demographic which I think is the target audience. We need to see arcade levels, puzzle, 1st person shooter, racing games etc… The marketing so far has been either too child-friendly with cute bears and dancing fruit, or too highbrow with sculpture and modern jazz compositions. The best thing they could do is have a closed beta with some proven creators from Little Big Planet and Project Spark and Minecraft (for example) and let them loose to make some interesting stuff. I think we will begin to see more of what Dreams is capable of once the developers are not the only ones making things. BRING ON THE BETA.
I want to make an RPG with the characters from my web show. Can’t wait for this to come out!!! (42 likes)