Editing Vaporware (section)

===Late release===
{{Pull quote|float=right|width=45%|The term is like a [[scarlet letter]] hung around the neck of software developers. [...] Like any overused and abused word, vaporware has lost its meaning. |author=James Fawcette|source="Press' Vaporgate", 1985}}
A product missing its announced release date, and the labeling of it as vaporware by the press, can be caused by its development taking longer than planned. Most software products are not released on time, according to researchers in 2001 who studied the causes and effects of vaporware;<ref name="BRJ2001-" /> "I hate to say yes, but yes", a Microsoft product manager stated in 1984, adding that "the problem isn't just at Microsoft". The phenomenon is so common that [[Lotus Development Corporation|Lotus]]' release of [[Lotus 1-2-3|1-2-3]] on time in January 1983, three months after announcing it, amazed many.<ref name="Shea1984"/>

[[Software development]] is a complex process, and developers are often uncertain how long it will take to complete any given project.<ref name="BRJ2001-" /><ref name=johnston1995>[[#refJohnston|Johnston; Betts (1995)]].</ref> Fixing errors in software, for example, can make up a significant portion of its development time, and developers are motivated not to release software with errors because it could damage their reputation with customers. Last-minute design changes are also common.<ref name="BRJ2001-" /> Large organizations seem to have more late projects than smaller ones, and may benefit from hiring individual programmers on contract to write software rather than using in-house development teams. Adding people to a late software project does not help; according to [[Brooks' Law]], doing so increases the delay.{{r|Shea1984}}

Not all delays in software are the developers' fault. In 1986, the [[American National Standards Institute]] adopted [[SQL]] as the standard database manipulation language. Software company [[Ashton-Tate]] was ready to release [[dBase IV]], but pushed the release date back to add support for SQL. The company believed that the product would not be competitive without it.<ref name=jenkins1998/> As the word became more commonly used by writers in the mid-1980s, ''InfoWorld'' magazine editor James Fawcette wrote that its negative connotations were unfair to developers because of these types of circumstances.<ref name=fawcette1985>[[#refFawcette|Fawcette (1985)]].</ref>

==== Duke Nukem ====
[[File:Duke Nukem Forever at PAX Prime 2010 (4956509224).jpg|thumb|''Duke Nukem Forever'' booth at [[PAX Prime]] 2010]]
Vaporware also includes announced products that are never released because of financial problems, or because the industry changes during its development.<ref name=jenkins1998/> When [[3D Realms]] first announced ''[[Duke Nukem Forever]]'' in 1997, the video game was early in its development.<ref name=Thompson2009>[[#refThompson|Thompson (2009)]].</ref> The company's previous game released in 1996, ''[[Duke Nukem 3D]]'', was a critical and financial success, and customer anticipation for its sequel was high. As personal computer hardware speeds improved at a rapid pace in the late 1990s, it created an "arms race" between companies in the video game industry, according to ''[[Wired News]]''. 3D Realms repeatedly moved the release date back over the next 12 years to add new, more advanced features. By the time 3D Realms went out of business in 2009 with the game still unreleased, ''Duke Nukem Forever'' had become synonymous with the word "vaporware" among industry writers.<ref name=kesten2009>{{cite news |first=Lou |last=Kesten |date=14 May 2009 |title=Developer's demise is death of 'Duke Nukem Forever' |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |url=https://www.kentucky.com/news/business/technology/article43999164.html |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref name=Iwa2009>{{cite news| ref=refIwa| first=Yukari Iwatani| last=Kane| date=7 May 2009| title=Duke Nukem Nuked| work=The Wall Street Journal Blogs| publisher=Dow Jones & Company| url=https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/05/07/duke-nukem-no-more |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The game was revived and released in 2011. However, due to a 13-year period of fan anticipation and design changes in the industry, the game received a mostly negative reception from critics and fans.

A company notorious for vaporware can improve its reputation. In the 1980s, video game maker [[Westwood Studios]] was known for shipping products late. However, by 1993, it had so improved that ''Computer Gaming World'' reported "many publishers would assure [us] that a project was going to be completed on time ''because'' Westwood was doing it".<ref name="cgw199308">{{cite news|url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=109 |title=Westwood Studios Partnership Hits Jackpot |magazine=Computer Gaming World |date=August 1993 |access-date=12 July 2014 |pages=32 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714154744/http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=109 |archive-date=14 July 2014 }}</ref>