Housemarque's PlayStation 5 exclusive Returnal has been delayed out of March to 30th April 2021. The joint decision, made by the developer and Sony, will allow the team to further polish the rogue-like experience. Over on Twitter, the official PlayStation Twitter account posted a statement saying: "Returnal has a new release date of April 30, 2021. SIE and Housemarque have made the decision to move the release date in order to give the team extra time to continue to polish the game to the level of quality players expect from Housemarque."
Returnal has impressed PS5 owners with various gameplay clips released as part of the studio's video diary entries, with the exclusive title going the extra mile with DualSense controller support and near-instant respawns that take advantage of the console's high-speed SSD. The story is also supposed to play a large part in proceedings, described as a "slowly unravelling mystery".
The game will now launch during what is currently a very quiet April, except for Resident Evil Village which is out a week later in May. Outriders is the only other big PS5 game slated for the fourth month of 2021 as of right now. How do you react to this news? Let us know in the comments below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 78
Good side effect is that it doenst release shortly before MH Rise now
Didn't they only announce the release date for this like four days ago?
Launch window releases on ps5 really start to stress the meaning of “launch window”. 🤦
@johncalmc ~2 weeks ago
Only a month, fair enough.
I mean this game looks amazing, more polish is just fine. Now we wait to hear about Ratchet and Clank.
We should probably expect this trend to continue unfortunately. Ratchet and Clank probably isn't coming before June, which makes me a little sad.
@johncalmc @IonMagus the date was announced on December 10
@EricTheBrainless that would be pretty crazy
Not surprised. It’s looking pretty quiet on the PS5 release front for a while.
I love to hear this, personally. I'd rather face a years worth of delays as long as I get a finished product. It's like being told you can't blow out your candles yet, I'm adding another layer of icing to your birthday cake. Are you paying attention, CD Projekt?
That's a bummer, but also 100% acceptable. Good things come to those who wait!
The pandemic is still throwing off production schedules like crazy. So I am not surprised.
So far the only PS5 game I’m getting in the first half is yakuza like a dragon
Same day as New Pokemon Snap. That will be interesting.
[Insert that one quote about delayed games attributed to Shigeru Miyamoyo]
@Th3solution That's always the case when you buy consoles at/near launch. PS5 is helped massively by PS4 BC, though. They might not be the billion-dollar shiny next-gen games you want, but there will still be plenty of new stuff to play on the system throughout 2021.
Thats funny. I could have sworn the release date was in May. Well hurry up and release so we can all wait for a sale. Looks phenomenal and love to support Housemarque. But $70 for a roguelite?!?!?
@Th3solution I wouldn't say it's quiet, and even if it was, we've been in a global pandemic for almost a year now. It's tough out there!
Makes you wonder if they plan to fill this void with other releases, or maybe just some exciting announcements
Looks like there currently aren't any big PS5 games coming out in the next few months that are interesting to me... any other year I'd say that's a bummer but this time I actually don't mind, because my backlog grew like crazy lately
@MemSec I always took Launch Window to mean within the first 6 months. End of April is basically hitting the limit lol
@MrDoug91 yeah, I don't see April happening for Ratchet at this point
Fair enough. I'm really looking forward to this, take all the time you need.
@MrDoug91
It sure seems to be a very lax definition... The corporate meaning may be: until production of consoles outweighs demand.
I’m fine with a delay if it means a more complete game. Besides, it gives me time to finish 13 Sentinels.
Yet another reason to just let scalpers sit and lose money on their stock and just wait to buy the console
This is sad but it is for the better! Hyped for this, and March is a dead month, would be dope. Oh well, we wait!
Well at least it got a date. And then another date. Still waiting on as far as I can tell the only big new 1st party game for the PS5 launch Ratchet & Clank. #RatchetandClankWhen
Sorry if I missed any other console seller PS5 only games but in my head they are all either ports, remasters or dual releases. Not that you can't buy a new $500 console for those, but Sony believes in generations so... 😛
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2020/09/sony_believes_in_generations_but_confirmed_a_bunch_of_ps5_games_for_ps4
@Hobbesyall you’re in for a treat. I finished it before Christmas on the other console and it’s one of the best games of last year.
@rjejr I'm leaning towards summer release date for Ratchet so like July/August and then Horizon being the crossgen big holiday title.
God you couldn't've picked a worse time in the same week as the NIER Re-release and a week before RE 8 god damn it
Sony setting the precedent early. Pandemic aside, as much as I love Cyberpunk, it’s hard to argue against releasing a game when it’s actually finished.
@Grumblevolcano I'll keep this short since I just finished typing that other long reply - July works for me, you've been around NL long enough you probably know it's my birthday. 🤣 August 4th would be too funny though. 😎
@Keyblade-Dan the 67 rated ps3 game?
They should be scared about that?
Am I going to have a PS4 by then?
@LiterallyDoNotCare I think you’re underestimating the massive interest that people will have in the first Nier after how huge Automata was.
Oh god 🤦🏻♂️
Sony can't handle their timetable.
They need more QA testers employees or they will never release any game this year
Meh only a month long delay, I'm okay with that, I'm glad to see more and more Developers delaying games to ensure a better product, I guess the situation with Cyberpunk 2077 was an eye-opener for a lot of Developers.
Good to see Sony not rushing it for the money! Hopefully we should get a good overall smooth experience with this game once it comes out.
@nessisonett Same thing could be said about you and Returnal and D. All stars.
It's still a 67 rated game...and a game from 2 gens ago and it didn't look the best even at that time.
I feel like I'm in 2010 all over again when every game got delayed
Now drop the price to 40 so I can buy it.
@LiterallyDoNotCare You put far too much stock in Metacritic scores.
Delay it as long as they need to get it ready for a hopefully bug free launch. Now all I need to tempt me in, is around £10 off the price.
Hopefully people learned a lesson with CDPR.
Delays are fine.
@get2sammyb I agree the presence of a global pandemic is affecting things. I’m not complaining since I have plenty to play anyways, but as it is, is there really anything noteworthy coming out in the next 3 months? Destruction All Stars and a handful of PS5 ports (excited about Disco Elysium and Control, to be sure) and a couple smaller titles until Returnal (which is effectively in May). Kena: Bridge of Spirits? Is there any hope for that in Q1? Reading the tea leaves would suggest that isn’t coming out this quarter either.
Well that’s not to bad a delay being fair considering other game delays.
Right come on the Sony, there is now a lovely gap for Ratchet and Clank, bring em on
@Grumblevolcano Sony doesn't really do holiday games, so August or September I think.
Cant be mad at it, more polish is a good thing.
@nessisonett because it matters in a major way. It doesn't affect your opinion, but you are talking about overselling a complete new game that it"s current gen with nice graphics that will 100% score higher than 67 backed by sony's marketing.
Just wait. I know what will happen. You are just blind because it has the NIER name in it. Like everyone else in here
I'd be more annoyed if I weren't still working through some PS5 launch games. Anyway, biggest issue for this game is still going to be the price. I think it looks awesome and the Housemarque games I have played always were polished and fun to play but I just don't see many people rushing to buy this type of game for $70, new release drought or not. Launching much closer to Resident Evil: Village won't help either. RE will appear as a more 'full' game and it'll be $10 cheaper if you go for the standard edition. Sony still has 3 months to reconsider this and I hope it does.
@nessisonett and I could be wrong. Idk if you would admit that. Hard to see that these days. The remaster could score an 80 because it's such a different but still.
If Returnal was named Mass Effect: The Returnal you would be going crazy how much this game will sell.
This is how Apple gets away with things. Because people just see Apple and go woaaaah. It's apple!
They should all start taking a leaf out of Nintendo’s book. Can’t see them delaying
Mario 3D world Bowsers Fury
Or New Monster Hunter.
No I’ve said it, there will be a delay 😂
@LiterallyDoNotCare ...........that was my point. The game could be rubbish but it’ll sell because it has the Nier name attached. The entire point of the user saying that Returnal was launching the same time as the Nier remaster is that they’re now competing.
@nessisonett even with the name, it won't sell like nier automata. It's 67 rated game with a slight graphics improvement and some QoL changes. It's a stepping stone for Returnal if Returnal is good enough.
@LiterallyDoNotCare Because we all know that the highest rated games on Metacritic are the highest selling. Yeah, FIFA and Madden totally get brilliant reviews.
@nessisonett They get 80s pretty often.That's enough for Returnal to blind a old ass looking game with just NIER name on it. The exception here is that it was a bad game before and it's an old ass game. Fifa, madden etc... are not.
Just admit that the way you are betting is off. yisus christ. I keep repeating myself.
@LiterallyDoNotCare Never once did I say that it would outsell Returnal. I said that Nier and Returnal in the same week means they’re competing. And to understate Nier’s potential sales because of its original Metascore is utterly ridiculous. That’s all.
@nessisonett They're not competing. No. Is not utterly ridiculous. Most people that buy it are this hardcore, niche group that pays attention to the score. Not some casual fifa fan.
I didn't buy days gone because it looked meh and the score confirmed it. Same thing with DS, but I felt that looked more boring than Days Gone. If both would've been 90s and word around were saying they were good, I would've gotten them, both. Millions of sales are happening because things like this. A hardcore guy gets the game because it scored high and he was interested, tells his friends and there it goes.
If the remaster gets an 67, the hardcore won't buy it. How will he sell a friend a ps3 game that was received bad?
@nessisonett but I bought gow, horizon, doom, doom eternal, mhw, dmc5, re2, ghost and others before any score was put out there. So I'm not a slave to the score neither. I just use it with what I was already thinking the game will be score-wise.
I'm betting an 84 with Returnal and that's enough to curmbstomp Nier.
I haven't seen bioshock collection sell more than horizon. Even with the name, being multiplat and being 3 games in 1. It's because it's an old game, and bioshock was more popular than nier back then and probably will be again with the confirmed bioshock 4.
Babylon's fall has way more of chance in competing with Returnal. I would even say it can beat it on sales.
@Ralizah That quote gets thrown around an awful lot while ignoring the context of the quote. It was true when Miyamoto said it because games were released on cartridge and the the game that shipped was the game you got. Now developers can develop a patch and fix their game.
So, no, a rushed game is not bad forever.
@LiterallyDoNotCare I'm losing braincells reading your comments....... I gotta put you on ignore for a while
@Nepp67 so you are just another that thinks a ps3 game that left a bad taste for people who bought it on ps3 a competition?
Everyone is a slave on this site This and nl and purexbox. It's all black and white for everyone in here.
Heh... I bet that somewhere around the beginning of March it'll be delayed again, this time to September 2021.
@Keyblade-Dan I had completely forgotten about the Nier remaster. So Returnal is now competing against Nier, Pokemon, and Resident Evil within the span of a few weeks. And we don't even know the other stuff that could get dated for that timeframe. Not really looking great for Returnal, especially with that $70 price tag dragging it down.
@Th3solution Kena: Bridge of Spirits(PS5) is coming soon Digital only then disc later
I can't fault them for delaying it if it needed more polish, but this now pretty much confirms I'll be waiting on it if I decide I want to buy it. I'd rather play Resident Evil Village right away than this.
Resident Evil 8 will also be $10 cheaper. While I've been vocal about people complaining about the price of the game and that they will wait, in this case when you are choosing between two games, it makes perfect sense. Also, I'm sure some of the other games that have a release window for that time will be coming out around then too (like the just mentioned Kena, a game I'm far more excited about).
@Nepp67
Right on🤠
@marty8370 Ah, I didn’t know it had a firm release time yet (... well, depending on what “soon” means). The Push Square list has it as “March 2021 (tentative)” still I think.
@deathaxe You should totally check out Tales of Maj’Eyal, it’s actually a proper rogue game like the classics. Most of these games are only rogue-likes in the sense that they have permadeath. Which could describe plenty arcade games or even twin-stick shooters.
@deathaxe Playing Dwarf Fortress with actual graphics will be mad. Of course there’s tile sets but I got so used to the ASCII art that it’ll almost be a shame to see it superseded by real graphics.
Was gonna have to decide between Returnal and Kena Bridge of Spirits for that month, so I guess it narrows it down for me. (Assuming Kena hits the targeted March release lol)
Sony have put their first party studios in a really awkward position now. All their games are up against stiff competition at a marked up price. It basically means that all their studios need to produce stellar games with really high review scores or they're scuppered. Either that or they reduce the price of some or give them away like Destruction All-stars which is basically admitting certain games aren't very good or they don't have faith in them. I wonder if they'll keep digging this greedy grave.
Releasing the same day as New Pokemon Snap.
You guys either have the shortest memories or none. Do you all really blame Cyberpunk on CD? Every title up till this one they released when they felt ready. What's the difference? That flashy WB publisher on the box. You all know the one that was for sale then decided against it, that's parent company is hemorrhaging cash. Yet ole CD is there holding the bag....funny that. How many publishers tell Devs to take their time? Not many and not for too long.
@Old-Red
You are absolutely spot on with this.
The PS5 gamers I know, who would normally jump straight in at £50 are waiting for reviews, general opinion and gameplay and length etc before handing over £70. Some have already said they will wait until price comes down overtime to £50 or less.
If you are going to charge £70 you need to produce a stunning game of Uncharted 4, GOT and GOW quality that were £50 or even £45 on release at retail.
@Old-Red
You think I have just preordered
Mario 3d world for my Switch, I know remake but not many had a wii u.
But for £49.99 I get an amazing long play platform game and Bowsers fury, steel book and sticker set, all of Nintendo quality gameplay wise.
This is first time in gaming I have started looking at value for money with this £70 for a Sony game.
@nessisonett why even bother wasting your time on this troll..you are better than this so dont empower him..
Hopefully this just means the game will be that more polished on release...I have expectations of this being very thrilling story wise.
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