The COVID-19 pandemic has forced developers to adapt their work pipelines and finish games from home. This has led to multiple delays.
Last year began with a slew of high-profile game delays, most notably Cyberpunk 2077 and the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but then COVID-19 struck and and threw the games industry through a loop. Now that we're into 2021, we'll only be seeing more delays as developers truly begin to understand the effects of the pandemic on their work pipeline. One of the first major delays to come this year was Hogwarts Legacy, being pushed into 2022.
We've compiled a list of every game that have been delayed into 2021 and beyond. Some of these games have been delayed indefinitely while others have release windows or a final release date.
We'll continually update this list as more games are delayed.
- Deathloop
- Dying Light 2
- Far Cry 6
- Gran Turismo 7
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- Outriders
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
- Psychonauts 2
- Rainbow Six Quarantine
- Returnal
- Riders Republic
- The Lord of the Rings: Gollum
- Skull & Bones
- Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
Games delayed in 2020 and 2021
Deathloop
Arkane needs a little more time with Deathloop. What was supposed to be a launch title on the PS5 has now been bumped to May 21, 2021. This delay was attributed to the adjustments of having to work from home during the pandemic. The studio wants it to live up to the level of polish and quality that players expect.
Release date: May 21, 2021
Deathloop
Colt and Juliana are two assassins on the island of Blackreef stuck in a time loop. While it may not have released as a launch title on PS5 like originally planned, you can get your hands on it closer to the summer.
Dying Light 2
Dying Light 2 can't seem to catch a break. It was supposed to hit consoles and PC sometime in Spring 2020, but Techland has since delayed it indefinitely, with no word on a new release date. All we can do is stay tuned for more details in the coming months. Let's just hope it doesn't land in development hell.
Release date: TBD (Delayed indefinitely)
Dying Light 2
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After creating the Dead Island series, developer Techland moved onto Dying Light, and it became exactly the type of zombie apocalypse game it was hoping for. Dying Light 2 aims to continue the trend whenever it eventually releases.
Far Cry 6
Ubisoft intended to release Far Cry 6 in Feb. 2021, but the company has since delayed it later into the year. A Microsoft Store listing seemingly indicates that it could release in May 2021, though Ubisoft has yet to confirm a new launch date. This delay was attributed to the ongoing pandemic.
Release date: 2021
Far Cry 6
Far Cry 6 stars Giancarlo Esposito as a dictator raising his son to follow in his footsteps. You'll be able to play it and explore its "tropical paradise" sometime later in 2021.
Gran Turismo 7
The next entry in Sony's racing franchise was initially planned to hit store shelves this year. Due to the pandemic impacting development and causing production problems, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan revealed that Gran Turismo 7 was bumped until sometime in 2022. The company will share more details when they become available.
Release date: 2022
Hogwarts Legacy
WB Games unveiled Hogwarts Legacy during one of Sony's PS5 press conferences. The upcoming RPG was set to take us back to the popular Wizarding World sometime later this year, but in order to create "the best possible experience," it was delayed until 2022. It looks like we'll need to wait a little while longer, but hopefully it's worth it.
Release date: 2022
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Kena: Bridge of Spirits debuted at Sony's PS5 conference in June and was expected to release this holiday, but it was delayed due to development hurdles caused by COVID-19. In order to give it some extra polish and ensure that it lives up to people's expectations, Ember Lab moved its release date to Q1 2021 and eventually settled on a release date in August.
Release date: August 24, 2021
Outriders
Outriders was set to hit consoles holiday 2020 just in time for next-gen, but COVID-19 and "work-process-restructuring" bumped its release date back until Feb. 2021. Even though publisher Square Enix says the game is largely complete, it did suffer another delay. It will now launch in April.
Release date: April 1, 2021
Outriders
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Outriders is a new drop-in-drop-out co-op shooter from developer People Can Fly set in a dark sci-fi universe. While it was meant to come out holiday 2020, it's been pushed back until 2021.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Ubisoft is remaking the classic Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, but in all honesty the reveal trailer looked... rough. Nothing like what a proper remake should. Though it was intended to release in January 2021, it was first delayed until March 2021 and then delayed indefinitely.
Release date: TBD
Psychonauts 2
Psychonauts 2 has been in development for a few years now, ever since it was crowdfunded through Fig. Last we heard from Double Fine, Psychonauts 2 is set to hit consoles and PC in 2021. Though the developer is now owned by Microsoft, the game will still come to PlayStation.
Release date: 2021
Psychonauts 2
Psychonauts set the bar for a psychological platformer, with cleverly implemented humor and understated messages about mental health and the state of the mind. We'll just need to wait a little longer to get our hands on it.
Rainbow Six Quarantine
We don't know a lot about Rainbow Six Quarantine, and we may not learn more for a bit. It was supposed to release before the end of Ubisoft's fiscal year — April 2020 — but it has since been pushed to an undetermined date during the next fiscal year.
Release date: After April 2021
Rainbow Six Quarantine
Team up and take on a mutating alien virus in Rainbow Six Quarantine. It's an entire game inspired by Rainbow Six Siege's Outbreak event in Operation Chimera. The developer ensures that the enemies this virus creates are more lethal than ever.
Returnal
Housemarque's sci-fi horror Returnal was set to release in March, but the studio made the decision to push the release date back about another month in order to "give the team extra time to continue to polish the game to the level of quality players expect from Housemarque." It will now launch on April 30, 2021.
Release date: April 30, 2021
Returnal
Returnal didn't get hit with too long of a delay, but players will still need to wait a little while longer to get stranded on an alien planet with unknown threats and a vicious time loop to content with.
Riders Republic
Deemed a massive multiplayer sports playground by Ubisoft, Riders Republic was initially meant to release in early 2021. Unfortunately, it's been pushed back until sometime later in the year. The company did not specify a date or give a release quarter, so it's anyone's guess when we'll be playing this.
Release date: 2021
Riders Republic
The action-packed sports game from Ubisoft was meant to hit relatively soon but was pushed back later into 2021. Hopefully when it releases it can live up to the promise of a sports paradise.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is an interesting one. It's easily by far the biggest and most ambitious title from developer Daedalic Entertainment, so it makes sense that it needs more time to ensure that it meets expectations. Daedalic said that it should "fully leverage the power of the new generation of consoles" and "the universe will be faithfully represented" when it launches in 2022.
Release Date: 2022
Skull & Bones
This isn't the first delay that Skull & Bones has suffered, and it probably won't be the last. It was expected to release in Q3/Q4 of 2018 before being pushed into 2019. We can see how that panned out as it's 2020 and it has still yet to release.
Release date: After March 2021
Skull & Bones
Were you ever playing Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and thought it would be awesome to have a full game based on piracy and naval combat? Well soon (possibly, maybe soon-ish) you can in Skull & Bones.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
Fans have eagerly awaited over a decade for this sequel to the cult classic. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 was initially scheduled to hit store shelves in March 2020 but was delayed later into 2020 and then further until sometime in 2021 at an unspecified date. The publisher went on to remove the development team completely and delayed it indefinitely.
Release date: TBA (Delayed indefinitely)
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
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Vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures have secretly shaped all of human history in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. As a thinblood vampire, your character is weaker than most, but you can work your way up the ladder.
Source: androidcentral