You WERE Expecting Game Delays, Right?
The world is currently being ravaged by the Coronavirus (aka COVID-19) pandemic, a virus so contagious that it’s halted all life for people in most countries. Employees are increasingly working from home if they can, while others who work at retail establishments considered essential like grocery stores and drug stores (you know, not GameStop) have to be more careful with what they do and who they interact with. The gaming industry has also adapted, as employees have continued to develop games from their homes. Not having to go to the development studio has its advantages, sure, but it’s sometimes more efficient to have direct contact with others. Game delays were coming eventually.
There was early, though vein, hope among some (not me) that game development and production would continue on smoothly. As the pandemic became serious in the western world between February and March, studios like Rockstar Games, CD Projekt Red, and Ubisoft confirmed how they’d successfully transitioned employees to work-from-home environments. This is not efficient for everyone, and announcements of delays were coming eventually. That dam broke this week.
The biggest here was for The Last of Us Part II, a game that’s already seen a long development period. It was originally announced in December 2016 with no date, and was finally given a February 22nd, 2020 date in September. It took only a month for the game to be delayed until May 29th. Now, Sony has confirmed that it’s been delayed again, this time indefinitely, due to coronavirus concerns. It’s a shame it didn’t make that February date.
Surprisingly, the game hasn’t been delayed due to development issues. Anonymous developers reported to Kotaku’s Jason Schreier that it’s largely finished, and its QA is being completed remotely by employees and contractors working from home. And just in case you thought the studio heads couldn’t crack the whip and have the developers crunch remotely, a work practice Naughty Dog is notorious for, fear not: They’re crunching anyway. Game development employees have been at this for so long that it’s ingrained within them. I’d give gaming companies congrats for letting this happen, but I’m sure they’re proud of themselves.
The game is actually being delayed due to economic and logistical issues. Basically, Sony doesn’t think they’ll be able to manufacture enough physical copies given the number of manufacturing districts currently closed thanks to the virus. It will also be tough to get them to stores and players with how many delivery drivers are focused on delivering essentials. Sales of digital copies might not make up for the lack of physical copies, especially with them slowing down PlayStation Network download speeds to account for the increased stay-at-home load. Sony also still values relationships with the retailers who sell physical hardware and software, and they don’t want to stiff them by selling digital copies first.
It would have been fitting to play a game that occurs in the aftermath of a dangerous pandemic during an actual (though less apocalyptic — for now) real-life one, but we won’t get that chance here. There are, thankfully, other recent games that occur in the aftermath of a pandemic.
The announcement of Iron Man VR’s delay came right alongside TLOU Part II’s, though it wasn’t given anywhere near as much attention. Thus, I will also not give it much attention. Don’t worry, it will sell fine.
The crowdfunded Wasteland 3 from the now Microsoft-owned inXile Entertainment was delayed from May 19th to August 28th due to the logistical challenges of employees working from home. Note that they’re fulfilling their commitment to release the game on PlayStation 4 in addition to Xbox One and PC despite their new owners. Meanwhile, no reason was explicitly given for Minecraft Dungeons’ delay from April to May 26th, but the developers previously warned that the team’s workflow would be impacted by the shift to a work-from-home environment. A one-month delay isn’t bad given the circumstances.
Just so you know, this is only the beginning. Not every developer can efficiently switch to having employees work from home without running into hitches, some more serious than others. TLOU Part II’s delay also shows how other factors can come into play, with printing retail copies and getting them to stores and owners. The bigger surprise is how long it took for us to hear about the first delays, a possible sign that developers were optimistic in the early days of the Coronavirus crisis in the western world. The late spring and summer seasons don’t tend to be as busy as the fall season for releases, but this year’s timeframe had an intriguing slate of announced and potential titles that will miss their intended releases.
The Coronavirus situation is unlikely to be improved by the end of April or even May. And even if the curve is flattened, the potential for the virus to resurge before a vaccine is ready will remain high, as it’s happened in a small number of Asian countries. This will get worse before it starts getting better, which applies to video game delays and development woes and several other matters outside the gaming world.
About The Author
Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
