We are all consumers. Like it or not, just about all of us spend hours, days, months and even years consuming all types of entertainment media, from games, songs and albums to film and television. Our consumption leads to obsession, and obsession leads to anger when fans don’t get what they want and when they want it. The entertainment industry has a reputation of dishonest and misleading behavior toward fans, with broken promises of release dates flooding headlines. Is it time for artists to clean up their act?

Currently, popular projects in media such as Matt Reeves’ sequel to “The Batman” (2022) and Rockstar Games’ widely anticipated video game “GTA 6” are punishing fans with delays and possible cancellations. “The Batman Part II” has been delayed from October of 2025 to 2027 and the billion-dollar “GTA 6” was pushed back over a year. Delays are not an easy subject for fanbases, so, unsurprisingly, these announcements have not been taken lightly.

Fans are outraged over their anticipation being drawn out years, but these large projects are exactly that: large. People may wait five or more years to see a sequel of a film they love or a game they spent hours playing, but in these cases, what they’re waiting so long for is likely worth the wait. Video games like FromSoftware’s “Elden Ring” (2022) or films such as George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015) took years to create, but since their releases, have been regarded as some of the best projects in their respective genres by critics and fans around the globe.

Fans need to be patient and look at the whole situation when waiting for a hundred-million-dollar film, game or series to release, but in some cases, they have every right to be mad. Mainstream rap stars, including Rakim Mayers, more commonly known as A$AP Rocky, have a history of ghosting and betraying fans surrounding their albums’ release dates. Rocky is still in the midst of the rollout for his fourth studio album, “Don’t Be Dumb,” which has been in the works (and seemingly finished, according to Mayers) for years, with Mayers publicly advertising for an Aug. 30, 2024 release before going silent. Not only does this behavior anger fans during the rollout, but it also raises expectations that can be more difficult to meet upon release.

Nobody should be jumping to conclusions when waiting for their favorite artist to drop a new album or favorite show to continue with a new season. However, if they do their research, fans will be able to decide what is worth waiting years for and what is better off as a “what if?”