So how long would you (or did you) wait before buying a game?

6 or more months according to the Reddit sub-forum /r/patientgamers I am subscribed to. Two exceptions to my tradition are Grand Theft Auto V and Battlefield 1.

Wait till it's bundled and at a super good deal... Until then I have plenty to play in backlog.

Witcher 3 wishlisted June 26 2014 and not yet owned. Someday...

there are steam refunds now. if the pre-order bonuses are something really good, you can just pre-order without any risk and get your money back if it turns out to be garbage.

I wait until I find time to play it.

is Your love for the game fake or real?

that's all I need to ask to myself

Unless I'm in a rush, I usually wait until a game's 75% off or so. Or it's up in a giveaway. I prefer discounts over paying full price whenever possible.

Even if it's a game I'm sure I'll really, really want to play right now, I will never preorder. It just encourages publishers to do bad things. Also, it's the principle of the thing; I want to buy a game, not spend money on a promise to get it in the future. If I wanted Kickstarter/Early Access, I know where to get it.

Of course, realistically, these days, even if the game turns out great, I'll just wait until it's on a great sale and my backlog doesn't look too bad. There are many more games to play than I make time for, so there's really no rush at all. I think the last thing I bought at launch date (or at least full price) was XCOM: Enemy Within.

Well, I bought Evil Within two months ago, and it was released in October 2014. Still haven't actually activated my key though.
Fallout 3 was released in October 2008 but I waited to get it until July 2011. I am still waiting for Fallout 4, but I am not in a hurry.
The biggest one was still Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Released in March 2007, I waited to finally get my hands on it and play it until May 2011, even though I was eyeing it since its launch.

At least, don't trust Early Access. An EA game can change to a totally difference gameplay.

I don't really have any set rules for when I buy something. Generally I don't buy a game if I'm not going to play it right away or real soon, but there are a lot of exceptions to that rule.

Sometimes I say screw my backlog and buy a game at release and play it right away. What's the point of having a high-end PC if I'm only playing 5-10+ year old games.

If a games looks like something I might interested in, I'll grab it on sale for 75% off or more.

I bought a cheap Bundlestars bundle once just because it had one game I wanted. It wasn't a name-your-own price bundle, it was 12 games for $3. The game turned out to be really good (one of my all time favorite games), and I felt bad that the developers only got a few cents for providing me hours of enjoyment. To make up for that, bought the game again on GOG and bought the sequel to it at full price to support them. That same bundle also happened to have a another good game that I liked a lot, so I bought the game again on GOG to throw them some support. After that, stopped buying those types of bundles. Now I only buy name-your-own price bundles, which is pretty much Humble Bundle, where I can adjust the amount to go to the games I want.

Recently, I came to realized the game industry probably can't support itself if everyone waits for games to be super cheap or bundled. The amount of shovelware crap coming out is also not helping by hiding good games, so I've tried to support good games and developers that make good games when I can buy buying their games.

just bought tales of berseria few days ago (released in the early stage of 2017) with 50% off being more affordable for me

Generally I don't preorder, but for some games I don't mind preordering. Some of the games are: Diablo 4 (if ever) and Warcraft 4 (o yea I wish).

For the rest, mostly on 75% sale if not more. Bundles are more than enough to satisfy me nowadays.

Depends on the game more so than the pre order bonus. Immediately bought Tekken 7 and Injustice 2. Still waiting to buy Prey and Nier (but I am guessing I will buy it soon.) For now, it's backlog.

I haven't bought a new release ever

I'm also excited for the new monster hunter, as I gave away my 3ds to my brother and now I can't really scratch that hunting itch. Though I'm gonna have to get a new computer in order to play. It looks promising and I've had to stop following it so I won't get too hyped.

Anyways, ever since I pre-ordered Arkham Knight for PC and that infamous fiasco occurred, combined with some poor execution from early access or kickstarter games, I almost have no faith in doing pre-orders anymore. It needs to be a trusted game franchise that I'm super hyped for and I absolutely know it will be awesome, like persona 5 for example.

We're honestly so spoiled now by constant sales, bundles, and multiple digital retailers that it almost seems silly to do pre-orders. Not to mention I already have so many games to get through that it impedes any impulse buys.

(I still haven't been able to play arkham knight because it runs so poorly on my computer still and it hurts to see some of the discounts it gets)

You should buy a PSP, they're crazy cheap atp and there are a ton of great games on it. Then you can play the previous monster hunter games :)

If I have money, that it's not too expensive, and have time to play it the instant I buy it, I'll go for it.
If I'm missing one of the 3 conditions, well it's gonna wait.

I'm not really cheap when it comes to indie games tho

-65% at least from the original price for AAA stuff

I wait for a deep cut (~75% off or more) or for it to get bundled. Mind you I tend to preffer single-player games so playing it the day of release or a decade later is usually exactly the same to me.

If I really want a game, know that I will play it after I get it and have the money I will even preorder games.
I preordered Tekken 7 and have no regrets. It's very likely that I will preorder Monster Hunter World or buy it at release.
Several games have good discounts before release nowadays and I don't feel bad to spend 30-40€ for a game I will like.

I have too many games and since I don't really play multiplayer, I am usually veeeery patient.

The only game I remember buying on release was XCOM, and that was 5 years ago...