Going over titles delayed by studios big and small over the course of Covid, some adapting well while others limped over the finish line
Ghosts of Tsushima/ Suckerpunch Studios
Platform: PS4/PS5
Released: 17th July 2020
(Image credit: Suckerpunch Studios)
Where better to start than a title that, despite a short delay and being one of the first big titles to adapt to covid, released their product to a game of the year standard. When the delay to the heavily anticipated open world samurai adventure was announced by a great studio like Suckerpunch fans were freaking out. With game delay after game delay being announced in the pandemic it could have easily been months before we seen Jin Sakai in action. However Sony’s strangely vague statement soon put people’s minds at ease when they “congratulated and thanked” Suckerpunch studios for a great game … before it was out.
This gave us a clear nod that the game had been thoroughly played and by the sounds of it was already in GREAT shape. The Studio all but confirmed this when they said in a statement that “despite challenges of working from home, the game is nearly ready for release” and the delay was merely to add some “finishing touches”. They weren’t lying. The game came out a masterpiece with lush graphics, amazing combat, gripping story and a revolutionary wind navigation system. Going on to win multiple awards on its way to seamlessly releasing multiplayer and next gen updates. A shining example of how to handle a game release in the pandemic
Cyberpunk 2077/ CDProjektRed
Platform: PS4/PS5,XboxONE,XboxSeriesX/S, Windows
Released: 10th December 2020
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)
Cyberpunk2077 was announced to massive hype back at E3 2013 but the road to an eventual 2020 release was a long one. A 16th of April release date became the 17th of September which switched to a 19th of November due date before finally stumbling onto shelves on December 10th. Now, you can never accuse gamers of being reasonable in the face of delays to a game we are looking forward to but CDPR came with a reputation. Fresh off of the amazing Witcher 3, fans couldn’t wait to see the studios take on this futuristic, dystopian sci fi genre.
What followed hardly anyone could have predicted. The game released in a near unplayable state on old gen consoles, improving on series X and PS5. The “best” performance came on high spec PCs with many players still reporting crashes as well as NPC problems. PlayStation even made the unprecedented step of removing it from their store and offering refunds until issues were resolved.
Now the game itself was no doubt ambitious, with a great story and amazing concepts throughout but attempting to build such a unique game in the midst of a new console release was bold. Covid added to the problems when CDPR released a statement saying they had begun working from home in March 2020. Despite all the challenges it seems the studio buckled under fan pressure to get the game out and after receiving death threats, who could blame them.
A public apology from Chief Executive Marcin Iwinski and a whole new release roadmap later, CDPR finally has things back on track. Yes, it involved pushing next gen into 2022 but with the game in its fittest state since launch after patch 1.4, Cyberpunk 2077 is worth keeping an eye on.
The Ascent/Neon Light Studios
Platform: XboxOne/XboxSeriesX/S/Windows
Release date: 29th July 2021
(Image credit: Neon Giant studios)
Staying with the increasingly popular “cyberpunk” genre, The Ascent was another game hit by a pandemic pushback. Originally due to release on Game Pass alongside the new consoles the game was delayed seven months to the 29th July 2021. Now while no explicit reason was given for this delay it came sandwiched between a batch of other covid delays and with gamedeveloper.com confirming 44% of devs suffered a delay in the pandemic, it’s safe to say The Ascent was affected as well.
However, the modest team of 13 experienced developers stuck to the task and got the game released in July to surprise more than a few people. The game was a hit on Game Pass combining classic top down diablo RPG elements with some iconic stick shooter gameplay. Neon light showed that no matter the size of team or the budget it’s still possible to release a great product on day one.
Halo: Infinite/343 Industries
Platform: XboxOne/XboxSeriesX/S/Windows
Release Date:8th December 2021
(Image Credit: 343 Industries)
Master Chief was kept frozen in deep space for an entire extra year. A decision that didn’t sit too well with Xbox CEO Phil Spencer, who said: “I don’t like that we showed the game, talked about it launching at the launch of consoles then within a month we had moved it” in a GQ profile. However, it’s possible 343 saw the problems other studios suffered and delayed it so long to make sure they released the best version of their game possible. In an ideal world, Spencer wanted Halo to prop up the release of the new consoles but it seems to have been unworkable for the studio. 343 confirmed this in a statement from the studio on twitter which said “adapting to covid had been big pitfall in development”.
Fast forward to now, the full game is finally here, and it seems the delays were the right call. The campaign dropping on December 8th after a month of early access to the multiplayer. Initial reactions got us all excited but when some outlets started calling it a late game of the year contender we knew we were in for something special. After playing it I can confirm the hype and after a hugely successful first Lan event in Raleigh, it looks like this Halo has the legs to keep going for years to come. A long, risky delay paying off tenfold.
Dying Light 2 / Techland games
Platform: XboxOne/SeriesX/S/PS4/PS5/Windows
Release Date: 22nd February 2022
(Image credit: Techland Games)
Last but certainly not least is the hotly anticipated sequel to the award winning Dying Light. Initially announced at E3 2018 with a release date of Spring 2020 planned before the landscape of game production changed.
While already ambitious in planning a two year development window, covid would shake things up even more. The game was delayed by a staggering 20 months until December 2021 before one final delay until February 2022. Lead Designer, Tymon Smektala stated this date was final with “zero chance” of further delay. While he also cites covid as a big reason for delays a few more problems have arisen at Techland such as Narration Designer, Pavel Selinger leaving the company after 22 years and work on both dying light projects. Reports of chaotic, unfocused development soon followed leading to CEO Pawel Marchewka admitting the game was announced too early in a statement.
Whether mainly down to coronavirus or the pressure of trying to live up to such an acclaimed predecessor, we will see Techland’s finished product early next year.
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