The pandemic has forced game developer Arkane Studios to once again delay the release of its action-shooter game Deathloop.
Arkane suggests COVID-19 restrictions have prevented staffers from completing Deathloop in time for its promised May 21 release date. “At Arkane we have a strong vision for Deathloop and we don’t want to compromise on that. But we also need to do everything we can to ensure the health and safety of everyone in the studio,” Dinga Bakaba, the game’s director, said in a video announcing the delay.
Arkane is based in France, where the government recently ordered a national lockdown in response to rising COVID-19 cases. The developer didn’t elaborate on what game elements still need to be finished. But Art Director Sebestien Mitton says Arkane is using the extra time to ensure Deathloop provides a “fun, stylish, and mind-bending experience.”
The game centers on an assassin who’s stuck in a time loop and trying to escape it. Hence, the experience promises to be like the 1993 film Groundhog Day, but with lots of guns, explosions, and spectacular kills. (Arkane previously developed the hit game Dishonored.)
It’s not the first time Deathloop has been delayed. The game was originally supposed to arrive late last year as both a PC game and a PlayStation 5 title. But in August, Arkane pushed back the release due to interruptions from the pandemic. It will now arrive in September for PCs and as a PS5 console-exclusive. As IGN notes, Microsoft will honor this agreement and not release a version of Deathloop for the Xbox in September, despite the fact that Microsoft has acquired Arkane parent company ZeniMax Media.
It’s certainly disappointing to see another delay. But we also don’t want a repeat of Cyberpunk 2077, which released in December full of software bugs.
