delay
Latest
Project Cars delayed to March 2015
The launch of Project Cars has been delayed to March 2015, Bandai Namco announced today. It will now arrive on March 17 in North America and March 20 in Europe and Australasian regions. The delay affects the game's Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC versions, which were previously scheduled for November 18 and November 21 in North America and Europe, respectively. The decision "positions the title away from the competitive holiday scene dominated by household names while affording the team at Slightly Mad Studios additional time to extend and polish" the game, according to the publisher. Slightly Mad Studios also has a Wii U version of Project Cars on the way, though it was already planned for 2015. It's currently unknown if the Wii U edition will align with the others in March 2015; we've asked Bandai Namco as much and will update as we learn more. The Wii U version was announced in January 2012 prior to Xbox 360 and PS3 versions being cut from the developer's plans in November 2013. Update: Bandai Namco says "the announced date is still 2015" for Project Cars on Wii U. [Image: Bandai Namco]
Hotline Miami 2 dials D-E-L-A-Y for a launch by early 2015
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is now due out between late 2014 and early 2015, according to the game's official Twitter account. It was originally scheduled to launch by September 2014. "Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is still getting some final tweaks and polish, expected to be ready for late 2014 or early 2015," the tweet reads. A follow-up message says, "Your patience is appreciated and will ultimately be rewarded with everything you hoped for and nothing like what you expected." By "tweaks and polish," we assume developers at Dennaton Games mean "doubletaps and blood." Because it's a gory game, you see. Hotline Miami 2 has more of a 90s vibe, rather than the 80s action movie feel in the first game – and that violence may serve a deeper purpose this time around.
Driveclub PS Plus temporarily held back to ease server load
Evolution Studios announced it's delaying the PlayStation Plus edition of Driveclub following the server troubles and connectivity issues the retail version's endured since launch. In a Facebook post, Game Director Paul Rustchynsky apologized for holding back the content-lite version free for Plus subscribers, which was due to launch alongside the full game this week, noting that "we want to ensure that when you come on board, you get the best experience possible." Rustchynsky didn't provide a new due date for the Plus edition, but said once Evolution's happy with server performance the studio will announce when it'll be available. The delay also applies to the racer's companion iOS and Android app, which did launch on Google Play yesterday but was since pulled. As for users who've pre-ordered the full game upgrade from the Plus edition, Rustchynsky said "you will still get the full version of Driveclub digitally." - we've reached out to Sony to clarify if that means they can obtain the full version now or when the Plus version launches [Update: A Sony UK spokesperson told Joystiq, "If someone has purchased the PS Plus version, they will be able to get the full game - as the game isn't out yet here, this would be on Friday in the UK."]
The Crew delayed to December, adds a beta
The Crew is due out worldwide on December 2, rather than its initial release date of November 11, Ubisoft announced today in a press release. Ubisoft will launch a second closed beta on PS4 and Xbox One in November, "giving even more players the opportunity to experience the game, which is something the community has been requesting." Launching the game would also do this, it should be noted. The Crew Creative Director Julian Gerighty offered the following comment on the delay: "Our philosophy remains to deliver the best game possible. We're all committed to delivering a revolutionary experience in the driving genre and we can't wait for The Crew to be in the hands of the players." The Crew was delayed once before. It launches on PS4, Xbox One, PC and Xbox 360 on December 2. [Image: Ubisoft]
Pillars of Eternity delayed to 2015
Pillars of Eternity has been delayed, but not into eternity – it's now due out in early 2015, rather than late 2014. Obsidian Entertainment announced the delay on publisher Paradox Interactive's forums. "Since the very beginning of this project we promised our fans and ourselves that we would release this game only when we knew it would be absolutely ready for the best experience possible," Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart said. "We're very close to that point, but not quite there yet. The feedback we have received through our playtest process has been invaluable to us. We are coming into the home stretch but are pushing the release out just a bit to make sure we honor that promise we made originally. Thanks for your patience and support, it will be worth the wait." Pillars of Eternity was Kickstarted in 2012, raising just shy of $4 million. In its post today, Obsidian said it recognizes that fans and financial backers of Pillars of Eternity are eager to play the complete game, but the extra time will allow developers to address feedback they've received from the beta. Pillars of Eternity was delayed once before, in February this year. We had a chance to play the game in its early form in August, and found it to be splendidly unsimplified. [Image: Paradox]
Trion delays RIFT: Nightmare Tide's launch [Updated]
RIFT: Nightmare Tide's October 8th release date is no longer set in stone -- if it ever was. In a livestream yesterday, Trion Worlds devs said that there is a possibility of a release delay based on feedback and that the team will decide soon if that delay will happen. Whatever date Nightmare Tide ends up releasing, it will go live in both Europe and North America at the same time. Many smaller details about the expansion launch were discussed during the livestream. The devs said that players will have a way to buy Planewalker: Water Attunement using in-game experience as well as purchasing it through the expansion bundle. Nightmare Tide will release with three new armor sets, new aquatic pets, additional housing dimenasions, four new dungeons, two "return to" dungeons, and the 10-person Rhen of Fate raid. The 20-person Mount Sharax raid will launch at a later date. Trion also admitted to already discussing RIFT 4.0 and 5.0 (i.e., the next two expansions) but declined to give specifics apart from a mention of "an over-arching plan" with them. Update: Trion announced tonight that the expansion will be delayed until October 22nd.
PS4, Vita versions of Skullgirls delayed to 2015
The PlayStation 4 and PS Vita versions of indie 2D fighter Skullgirls have been delayed to 2015, developer Lab Zero Games announced this week. Lab Zero's Peter Bartholow notes that the delay comes as a result of the ports' newly expanded scope, which will introduce several new features not found in the game's initial PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC releases. "Unfortunately, these awesome new additions have necessitated a delay until early 2015, but I'm confident that everyone will find the additions worthwhile," Bartholow said. The announcement follows up on this week's launch of Eliza, a new character funded by Lab Zero's successful Indiegogo campaign. Eliza is currently available as a free download for all Skullgirls players, and will be released as paid DLC starting next year. [Image: Lab Zero Games]
Pathfinder Online's early enrollment is delayed yet again
Pathfinder Online has further delayed the start of its next testing phase, Goblinworks wrote on its blog yesterday in a post titled Early Enrollment Will Not Start This Week: There are a lot of final pieces coming into place to turn Pathfinder Online into a Minimum Viable Product so all of our early adopters can play and have a great time. The Auction House didn't make it in for a build last week and that is a critical feature of our MVP. As always, Goblinworks is dedicated to making sure the players have a solid and fun game experience. As a result we are going to reschedule the start of Early Enrollment. The team is developing their roadmap and when we have a revised start date we will provide an updated blog to present that plan. We appreciate your continued patience. Those of you playing along at home will recall that this is the third such delay. On September 3rd, early enrollment was shifted to September 22nd for bug fixing; a week later, it was set for September 25th to accommodate, Goblinworks said, its players' vocal "desire to have the whole early enrollment map ready for play on the first day of early enrollment." Early enrollment is the equivalent of paid early access for backers and incurs a subscription fee.
Dark Souls 2 DLC officially delayed in North America
Yesterday we brought you word that the Crown of the Ivory King DLC for Dark Souls 2 had been delayed in Europe. At the time there was no word on the status of its North American counterpart, though now we know that it, too, has been pushed back. "The sheer scope of Crown of the Ivory King facilitated the need for a bit more time to deliver a level of polish that the previous two chapters of The Lost Crown trilogy embodied," stated developer From Software via publisher Bandai Namco. "It is From Software's intent to only release Crown of the Ivory King with the highest level of quality possible." Those who read our earlier article will note that this is the same statement we received from Bandai Namco Europe when we looked into the European delay. On a positive note, the delay is not a lengthy one. Bandai Namco now plans to launch the Crown of the Ivory King DLC on September 30. While you're waiting, you can pass the time by reading our reviews of the first two DLC packs released for Dark Souls 2, Crown of the Sunken King and Crown of the Old Iron King. [Image: Bandai Namco]
Tropico 5 delayed on PS4, now arriving in 'early 2015'
Despite prior word that Tropico 5 would reach the PlayStation 4 during 2014, a new announcement from publisher Kalypso Media bumps the banana republic simulation to "early 2015." Kalyspo offers no explanation for the PlayStation 4 delay, but does note that the Xbox 360 version of Tropico 5, which has long been scheduled for a November 2014 release, has not been delayed. In more positive news, the aforementioned message issued by Kalypso announces the launch of both Mac and SteamOS versions of Tropico 5. "Starting today, Mac & SteamOS users can now visit the island paradise of Tropico in the award-winning dictator sim," the announcement states. Those suddenly interested in picking up a copy of Tropico 5 can find the game either on the Mac App Store or Steam. [Image: Kalypso Media]
WWE 2K15 delayed to November on next-gen
WWE 2K15 has been delayed to November 18 in North America on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, 2K announced today. The international release of the game on the next-gen systems has also been pushed back to November 21. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game will still arrive on October 28 in North America and October 31 internationally, as originally announced in May. "Visual Concepts and Yukes are committed to delivering the most authentic and action-packed WWE experience to date, including release for the very first time on next-generation consoles," Visual Concepts President Greg Thomas said via press release. "The additional development time enables our talented teams to ensure the WWE 2K15 next-gen experience fully meets our expectations." The game will feature a historical rivalry mode that focuses on two feuds in WWE's history: CM Punk versus John Cena and Triple H versus Shawn Michaels. [Image: 2K Sports]
Pathfinder Online further delays early enrollment to include more map
When will Pathfinder Online's early enrollment period begin? The answer to that question continues to change as its studio makes last-minute adjustments. Originally it was supposed to be September 15th, which then was pushed to September 22nd for more work on alpha features, and it's now delayed until September 25th in order to give players a larger initial game world. Players who have early enrollment access will be able to access the wipeable alpha (if they don't have it already) starting on the 18th. "Our community has been very vocal about their desire to have the whole early enrollment map ready for play on the first day of early enrollment, and we're making changes to our deployment plans to accommodate that desire," Goblinworks posted. The studio also said that it will be delaying the start of the War of Towers until October 16th and that the Mac client should be ready to go by the start of early enrollment. In the meantime, the team is consolidating its alpha patches into a single large patch for tomorrow and then will be doing updates on Thursdays going forward.
Those new iPhones are facing delays in China
With introduction of two iPhones last year, Apple looked to gain ground in overseas markets like China. Now, hours after the announcement of its next round of phones, the folks in Cupertino are facing issues getting the new wares to parts of Asia. In fact, it has already told three of mainland China's largest phone companies that it won't be able to stock shelves with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus on the September 19th launch day. The New York Times reports that the devices have yet to receive regulatory approval needed for the release, but Apple didn't give a specific reason for the hold up. Back in July, state-run Chinese Central Television expressed concerns that iOS location-tracking logs could be used to nab classified info, and were a threat to its national security -- a claim which Tim Cook and Co. were quick to reject.
EA Sports delays NBA Live 15 by three weeks
In an effort to polish the game further, EA Sports has delayed the launch of NBA Live 15 by several weeks. The game will now launch on October 28 instead of October 7, the same day as its competitor, NBA 2K15. Word of the delay comes via an open letter from Executive Producer Sean O'Brien on the publisher's site. "We think we've come a long way since the launches of the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 last November, and we're still working on tuning certain areas in 5-on-5 gameplay," O'Brien said. EA Sports will start discussing the game's updates with more frequency in the coming weeks through its new gameplay blog, as well. O'Brien's made a habit of drafting open letters for the public; in November, he admitted that the developer has "a lot of work to do" following the launch of NBA Live 14, and then stated the team has "a lot to prove" in June. NBA Live 15 is in development for Xbox One and PS4. EA has a bit of a history with delaying, then eventually canceling games in the series, as both NBA Live 13 and NBA Elite 11 were canceled in September 2012 and November 2010, respectively. [Image: EA Sports]
Star Citizen updates backers on the status of Arena Commander V0.9
Star Citizen's latest update to the Arena Commander module has not come out yet. Yes, V0.9 is being held back slightly, but there's a good reason for that. A recent dispatch from the development team explains that the update just had not been rigorously tested enough to release, especially with the overall goal of making fast progress from V0.9 to V1.0. Of course, the V0.9 update also offers a significant number of upgrades to the experience as a whole, which makes the change that much more understandable. Improvements include the addition of the Murray Cup Racing Mode and the Vanduul Swarm Co-op Mode, leaderboard functionality, and improvements to existing hangars. The update also includes the M50 and 350R ships for all modes and adjustments to make flight options more robust. So you'll have to wait a little longer for the update, but the hope is that it's more than worth the wait. [Thanks to Cardboard for the tip!]
Camelot Unchained launches pre-alpha test checklist
Camelot Unchained is running a little bit behind, as we learned last week. It happens; it's the nature of development. But what, exactly, is the source of the delay? The team has launched a pre-alpha testing checklist to explain just that. No, it's not the things players have to do before testing; it's what the team has to get completed before the game is ready for its earliest tests. While there are no time estimates available on the unchecked entries, fans can get a good idea just from the chart how far along the development process is. Presumably, more entries will be filled in as they are completed without other fanfare. If you want to have a one-stop spot to see the state of the game in development, check it out for yourself.
Shin Megami Tensei 4 delayed once more in Europe
Atlus pushed back the European release of Shin Megami Tensei 4 to October, fueling the idea that when game and continent finally meet, it'll be a universe-imploding, hell-frozen-over act of irrevocable consequence. The 2013 3DS JRPG was due to launch this month in Europe after a year of silence about it ever reaching the region. To Atlus' credit, PR Manager John Hardin explained the delay was due to a few "last-minute issues specific to the EU version, and the studio's keenly aware of what's been a long wait.
Mew-Genics on hold, will return when it's 'more coherent'
Mew-Genics is officially on hold, Team Meat's Tommy Refenes confirmed to Joystiq at PAX Prime in Seattle. The game was first revealed in October 2012, though the Super Meat Boy developer did not fully explain how the genetically-altered cat lady simulator would operate for another four months. The decision to drag the game's esoteric explanation out is one that Refenes seemed to regret, saying the developer "shouldn't have been talking about it as much in the beginning as we did, because the game expanded beyond what it originally was." As a result, the game grew beyond Team Meat's own original vision: "Even some of the posts that we made in the beginning, that stuff doesn't exist in the game anymore," he added. For example, the developer discussed a "trinkets" system in December 2012, which is now gone from Mew-Genics, as it's "expanded into the stores" in the game.
Camelot Unchained alpha postponed half a year [Updated]
On Twitter and during a Twitch broadcast yesterday, Camelot Unchained developers announced that the alpha test for the crowdfunded RvR MMO has been broken into three phases and delayed, which will result in a similar delay for beta and launch. Originally planned to begin this month, the third phase of alpha has been postponed until February of next year; devs cited insufficient programmers as the main culprit, though that's a problem they say they've rectified now. Backers will have limited access to alphas 1 and 2, though dates for these have not yet been set. In a post announcing the new Camelot Unchained website today, Mark Jacobs apologized for the alpha's delay, writing, "I want to thank all of our Backers for their understanding and support regarding the delay of the commencement of Alpha Testing. It is gratefully appreciated by myself and the team." [Thanks to Andy for the tip.] [Update: We've included the revised explanatory video below. Mark Jacobs also forwarded us his letter to backers, which hasn't yet been uploaded to the new-new site. We've embedded it below as well.]
Assassin's Creed Unity delayed to November 11
Assassin's Creed Unity will launch on November 11 in North America and on November 13 in Europe, a delay from the previously announced release date of October 28 in the US. Ubisoft says the extra two weeks will be spent bringing the game up to fans' and the team's expectations. "As we got close to the finish, we realized we were near the target but still needed a bit more time to hone some of the details to make sure Assassin's Creed Unity is exceptional," Ubisoft Senior Producer Vincent Pontbriand says in a press release. "We sincerely appreciate players' commitment to the game and their patience. It's just a couple more weeks. And it's going to be worth it." [Image: Ubisoft]
