The global covid-19 pandemic has caused widespread delays across a many, many industries, including the gaming industry. We have seen confirmed delays everywhere, from God of War: Ragnarok, to Halo Infinite. Often when games go radio silent with their marketing, it is a sign of an incoming game delay. It is by no means a guarantee though. We are 100% speculating here, please DO NOT take any of this to mean there is a delay incoming, especially as we have summer game shows coming up…
2022 games we think could be delayed…
Redfall
We have known of the name ‘Redfall’ for some time. It was trademarked by Bethesda some years ago now, with people speculating it has something to do with Elder Scrolls 6. In 2021, we found out that actually this has nothing to do with Elder Scrolls and it is it’s own game developed by Arkane Austin. The team behind Prey and Dishonoured. What we know about Redfall now, which was given a release window in 2021 of ‘Summer 2022’, is that it is an open-world cooperative first person shooter. The game is campaign focused. Vampires are not the only enemy. There are 4 different character classes for players to use to provide variation in multiplayer. The game looks fun based on what we have seen, but marketing has been pretty quiet now for some time… Some are speculating it might be delayed. That said, Bethesda don’t mind shorter marketing campaigns. I wouldn’t be surprised if gameplay was shown and an open beta announced during the showcase. If it makes no appearance at or before the summer game showcases, then it would seem a delay is very likely.
Forza Motorsport (8)
Very little has been said publicly about Forza since the Xbox summer showcase in 2020. It was just a CGI/ in engine trailer, but it was said to be a next-gen experience, only available on Xbox Series consoles and PC natively. Although it would not be an official ‘delay’, due to not having a release date, It will be interesting to see if it does release in 2022. Forza Motorsport will almost certainly be the first ‘next-gen’ racer. We will really get a feel for what improvements can me made in the genre. The racing sim, really does not have far to go graphically. They are showcases for graphics. But true next gen experiences will be seen in the physics. Studio Turn 10, have perfected the racing sim experience in previous the generation, and have taken a break from the bi-annual release of Forza to upgrade the engine and raise the bar in performance. Sadly for fans thirsty for information, no significant updates have been given. On the Xbox blog, there is not even a release window for the game…
ARK 2
The successful Ark: Survival Evolved has been a great game for Studio Wildcard. It is a great online survival game that could be played co-op or PVP. Players begin in a very primitive state, but can progress their civilisations considerably to survive the wildlife, or other players. Studio Wildcard has shown a CGI trailer of ARK 2, starring Vin Diesel. Since then not much has been heard about the game, until recently at GDC, when it was announced we would be hearing more about the game in the coming weeks. An exciting prospect, for sure. But will it release in 2022, or is this going to slip into Q1/2 of 2023? Certainly very exciting to find out more about this game… Hopefully we get gameplay.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Heart of Chernobyl
S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 Heart of Chernobyl is a sequel to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Originally only on PC it is now being brought to consoles, hitting Xbox first. The non-linear game is set to utilise Unreal Engine 5 and photogrammetry, to bring stunning visuals, a dark story and thrilling gameplay to the video game space. Sadly, the war in Ukraine is having horrific effects on the people of Ukraine, this includes Ukrainian studio GSC Game World. Their promising looking game S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 Heart of Chernobyl is looking increasingly like it is going to be delayed again, past the original December 8th delay. While unfortunate, because the game looks EPIC, there are some things more important than games. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those in Ukraine suffering due to the war. We hope peace and diplomacy will resume ASAP, and the good people of GSC Game World get to finish and release what looks to be an amazing game.
It could be that that none of these games get a delayed. But sometimes it is best to be prepared for the possibility, than to suffer the disappointment. Certainly with the games above (minus STALKER 2), we should wait until the summer showcases before getting too worried.
