Developer Fatshark has announced that its upcoming co-op shooter, Warhammer 40:000: Darktide, has been delayed into early 2022. Due to the ongoing effects of COVID-19 within different industries, Fatshark made the decision to push the game back to "early next year" to ensure that its launch is as smooth as possible.
In a post on Twitter, Fatshark CEO Martin Wahlund writes, "We have a responsibility to deliver the best game we possibly can, and frankly we need more time to accomplish this goal. It is no secret that building a game during a pandemic is a challenge, and we are not immune to this."
A lot of industry pundits were saying last year that the majority of delays for games due to COVID were going to happen in 2021. Anything that was released last year was more down to being in development well before the pandemic broke out, which helped keep things on track for the most part. Studios have finally transitioned to work-from-home setups, but that still took time and reshuffled schedules.
That said, I would rather see games get delayed instead of rushed out the door. After the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077 last year, I think most developers and publishers would agree. The game may have sold well enough, but the damage to CD Projekt Red's reputation is not something a smaller studio could weather. There's also no need to race something out to market when players are inundated with choices across multiple platforms. If Darktide can recapture some of Vermintide's charm for the 40K universe, then the wait will definitely be worth it.
Source: Twitter