Dean Hall, the creator of the iconic DayZ and currently working on the survival game Icarus, stated during a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) session that players have the power to change the attitude toward game delays.
Dangerous Horizons
According to him, gamers should loudly inform game creators and publishers that they are not opposed to delays, because, as Hall says, companies are practically "obsessed" with releasing a game on time.
"Part of this is driven by financial considerations," notes the game designer, "but largely it's driven by perception."
Hall believes that the fear of delays has led to the "crunch culture." According to him, developers have become fixated on the idea that a game must release on schedule.
The developer himself is not afraid of delaying games. Stationeers, a project by his current company RocketWerkz, was in early access for "almost 10 years," and the DLC for Dangerous Horizons was "postponed numerous times after its announcement."