A good game is always worth the wait. But, between the anticipation of fans, the growing pressure from investors, and the ever-prevalent feeling of missing out, some developers will push hard to release a game even if it isn't in the best state. So, you can't exactly put all the blame on developers for what happened to, let's say, Redfall and The Last of Us Part 1. But, you can commend the ones who do decide to go against the grain, like, for example, Nintendo.

At a time when companies constantly appear to fail to learn from the lessons with the failed launch of Cyberpunk 2077, the company made the conscious decision of delaying one of the best games of its generation if not all time by a year even if it was already ready to ship out.

As per The Washington Post, the series producer, Eiji Aonuma, revealed that Nintendo pushed the game's release date back just to polish things and to make sure everything worked.

And, well, guess what? What Nintendo did pay off.

Many fans were initially dismayed by the delay, but this sentiment turned into praise when Tears of the Kingdom debuted. Compared to other blockbusters, Tears of the Kingdom stands out as a near-flawless launch, undisturbed by the plethora of bugs plaguing newly released games.

Nintendo's extreme commitment to quality over speed has certainly paid off with Tears of the Kingdom breaking records on its release date and becoming the fastest-selling game in the franchise by a mile.

The success of Tears of the Kingdom goes beyond numbers. It proves that if the Nintendo Switch can run such an amazing if magical game, then what excuse do other developers have with access to more powerful hardware such as the ones on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X?

The way that the innovative open world runs so smoothly on the Switch's supposedly aging hardware is beyond words. All that you see in Tears of the Kingdom demonstrates Nintendo's near-maniacal attention to detail.

Ultimately, the success of Tears of the Kingdom underlines the value of taking time to refine a game, even when it's largely complete.

To quote the wisdom-filled words of the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto: "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad."

Tears of the Kingdom is proof that, sometimes, a delay is more than worth it.

Now, Nintendo is reaping the benefits with what's easily the runaway winner of this year's Game of the Year award.

Square Enix and Blizzard Entertainment are hoping to achieve the same with Final Fantasy 16 and Diablo 4, respectively. The former, in particular, even promised no Day One patch for the game on June 22 as a sign of their confidence in its performance on the PlayStation 5.

With these three leading the way, don't be surprised if developers become more willing to extend their development times to focus on releasing a flawless product at launch.