I don't envy software developers under immense pressure to deliver a AAA title on time. Having to predict whether or not you can get that feature working flawlessly in 30 days isn't easy in a vacuum. Much less with your Marketing dept being overly optimistic with your prediction.
In this case of a small company, most of the marketing was done by lead director who was very close to the development team and obviously knew what the team was able and unable to deliver.
Yeah, but like in the case of online multiplayer, I believe they had every intention of making that a release day feature, but it just wasn't ready. I just think calling the guy a liar is a bit harsh. All marketing is lying in some form or fashion. :P
How is purposefully implying that there is multiplayer a month before release not a lie? Had it been “uhm, yeah, we are working on that but have nothing to announce at this point” would have been a lot more honest. But none of the marketing campaign was honest—it was full of half-truths, inaccuracies and insinuations of something much grander.
Also, I think the end result being as bad as it was in many’s eyes create feedback loop on the negativity. This is not the first time a game has disappointed its audience due to an overreaching marketing campaign, but this was not much of anything at the time of release.
