Forspoken, an upcoming action-RPG published by Square Enix, has been delayed until Jan. 24, 2023.
This is the second delay for the upcoming triple-A title, which was originally intended to launch on May 24, 2022. However, development seemed to be taking longer than intended and the game was first delayed until Oct. 11, 2022. This time the developer, Luminous Productions, claims that the game is now on schedule. The current delay is likely a business decision.
A tweet released by Forspoken’s official Twitter account states:
“As a result of ongoing discussions with key partners, we have made the strategic decision to move the launch date of Forspoken to Jan. 24, 2023. All game elements are now complete, and development is in its final polishing stage.”
The statement goes on to say that more information about Forspoken will be released this Summer. This is likely further gameplay footage or a new trailer.
It is likely that as a new property, Luminous Productions moved the date to prevent it from coinciding with a number of big releases coming this holiday season. Nintendo announced a large number of games to be released towards the end of the year in its Partner Showcase. Persona 5 Royal, NieR: Automata, and Mario + Rabbids Spark of Hope will all be released for Nintendo Switch in October.
Square Enix announced Havestella coming to Switch on Nov. 4 and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will launch on Nov. 18 While Sonic Frontiers has no set release date, it is also coming to all platforms before the end of the year. Sony has also announced that the long-awaited God of War Ragnarök will launch Nov. 9.
As the holiday release schedule is already tightly packed, it is likely that the ‘key partners’ the statement refers to, wanted Forspoken to be delayed in order for it to be released when there will be less competition. Although the game is written by Amy Hennig, the creator of Uncharted, it is not based on any previous works, and therefore it would be seen as risky to release during a busy period.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
