History Main / RealSoonNow

* Certain incidents with the authors of the StarWarsExpandedUniverse can leave books deep into VaporWare, such as the Literature/XWingSeries.

* Fairly common for non-commercial software with no set schedule. For example, each new version of ''[[{{Unix}} Debian GNU/Linux]]'' distribution is said to be released "when it's ready", which means once in 2-3 years (most others release several times a year). As a result ''Debian'' has a reputation as reliable, but somewhat stale in terms of new features.

* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossThe8thDimension''.
-->'''Dr. Lizardo:''' Where are we going?
-->'''Red Lectroids:''' Planet Ten!
-->'''Dr. Lizardo:''' When?
-->'''Red Lectroids:''' Real Soon!

* ArenaNet has been saying that GuildWars2 will come out "When it's ready" since 2008. They often say the same thing when asked when any specific piece of information will be revealed. Fortunately, it did finally come out in 2012...and to wide critical praise.

* ''{{EverQuest}}'' forums are famous for having the developers state that something will be done "Soon(tm)".

* The ten GameBoyAdvance games promised to day-one owners of Nintendo3DS handhelds were said by Nintendo to be coming before the end of 2011--they came out about two weeks before the end.
* ''VideoGame/XRebirth'' was initially announced for a fall 2011 release. Then Egosoft realized, "oops, it's not ready" and had only given vague estimates ("Q3 2012"), until it was finally announced that the release date was set in stone as November 15th 2013. Since it's going to be {{Steam}}-exclusive, the occasional joke has popped up that Egosoft is running on Valve time (see above). [[AscendedMeme Egosoft actually own the domain]] [[http://soon.tm/ Soon.TM]].

* Certain incidents with the authors of the StarWarsExpandedUniverse can leave books deep into VaporWare, such as the XWingSeries.

* The ten GameBoyAdvance games promised to day-one owners of Nintendo3DS handhelds were said by Nintendo to be coming before the end of 2011- they came out about two weeks before the end.

* BlizzardEntertainment is of course the king of this trope, having done this with very many of its games. For instance, after ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' was announced in 2008, it was almost 4 years before a release date was announced.
** Other (infamous) examples include VideoGame/StarcraftII (eventually released... [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo kinda]]) and Starcraft: Ghost (VaporWare).
** They also usually respond this way in WorldOfWarcraft blogs. When are rogues going to be balanced? Soon. When are Shadow Priests and frost mages getting buffed? Soon. When are new battlegrounds being released? Soon.

* Back in the day, Apogee/3D Realms was notorious for this. ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' languished for many of it's twelve years as VaporWare, with the company saying that it would be released "When it's done". Interestingly, the company had claimed several solid release dates, before going for the OrwellianRetcon and claiming that it had ''always'' been "When it's done".

* Peter Tosh's "Soon Come", recorded both with The Wailers and solo. This is about a woman who is wasting his time by constantly promising to do something by a certain time but making excuses when it hasn't been done by then. The phrase 'Soon Come' is commonly used in Jamaica and is typical of their laidback 'no rush' attitude.

* ''VideoGame/BillyVsSNAKEMAN'' has a half dozen announced game areas stuck in this state, including three (Hero's Quest, Reaper's Game, and Pirates) that further the running plot of the game.

* ''VideoGame/XRebirth'' was initially announced for a fall 2011 release. Then Egosoft realized, "oops, it's not ready" and has since refused to give a hard-and-fast release date (at this point they're hoping for sometime in 2013). Since it's going to be {{Steam}}-exclusive, the occasional joke has popped up that Egosoft is running on Valve time (see above).

* ''VideoGame/XRebirth'' was initially announced for a fall 2011 release. Then Egosoft realized, "oops, it's not ready" and has since refused to give a hard-and-fast release date (at this point they're hoping for sometime in 2013).

* {{Nintendo}} does this on a regular basis with its AAA games. "When's the game coming?" "When it's done".

* 30 Seconds to Mars is notorious with this to the point where the word "soon" has becoming a groan-inducing RunningJoke among the fans. Apply "soon" to the release of the music video for ''This is War'', their documentary, ''Artifact''...

* Back in the day, Apogee/3D Realms was notorious for this. ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' developed the meme of "When it's done" for a reason. It was the king of VaporWare for almost 12 years before a new developer got their hands on it.

* Until recently (when a specific release date has been promised), the release of the next installment of George R.R. Martin's ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' series of fantasy novels was in this category.
** Of course, since the series isn't over, the ''next'' novel has it even worse. To the point where the [[LiveActionAdaptation miniseries]] is concerned about [[OvertookTheManga overtaking the books]], despite the generous head-start and the production time involved with live-action (about a year per book/season).
*** Not helped by the fact that Martin himself is one of the series' executive producers and scriptwriters, spending on it some of the time he might use to actually ''write'' the book.

** Other (infamous) examples include StarcraftII (eventually released... [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo kinda]]) and Starcraft: Ghost (VaporWare).

* ValveSoftware alternates between this and Valve time, which is just plain lies.

* Back in the day, Apogee/3D Realms was notorious for this, especially in regards to ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever''. Didn't really turn out so well.

* DukeNukemForever developed the meme of "When it's done" for a reason. It was the king of VaporWare for almost 12 years before a new developer got their hands on it.

* ''BillyVsSNAKEMAN'' has a half dozen announced game areas stuck in this state, including three (Hero's Quest, Reaper's Game, and Pirates) that further the running plot of the game.