Sony announced it would not be releasing The Last of Us Part II on May 29. The title has been delayed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Commenting on the decision on Twitter, the company cited logistics issues beyond its control.
SIE has made the difficult decision to delay the launch of The Last of Us Part II and Marvel’s Iron Man VR until further notice. Logistically, the global crisis is preventing us from providing the launch experience our players deserve.
The developer Naughty Dog issued a statement which suggests that the decision did not come from them. However, the devs agree that its “best and fair” to the players.
We want to make sure everyone gets to play The Last of Us Part II around the same time, ensuring that we’re doing everything possible to preserve the best experience for everyone. This meant delaying the game until such a time where we can solve these logistic issues.
The developers also noted that the development of the game is nearly complete, with final bugs being fixed right now.
Jason Schreier, who predicted video game delays over coronavirus, cites his sources who confirm The Last of Us Part II was indeed ready to launch in May.
“The primary reason for the delay is the challenge of printing, shipping, and selling physical games right now,” Schreier says. “I believe they ran the numbers and decided that they’d miss out on too many physical sales.”
Maybe this is good news for the developers at Naughty Dog, at least. According to some of them, the amount of crunch at the studio is insane. When the release of The Last of Us 2 was moved for the first time (from February 21 to May 29), that didn’t help alleviate the crunch. It just meant more of it. Schreier hopes that maybe this final delay will give some breathing space to those still working on the game, such as QA people.
Earlier, Wasteland 3 and Minecraft Dungeons were delayed because of the coronavirus to August 28 and May 26 respectively. It wasn’t logistics, though, but rather, the transition to remote work that resulted in the delay.
Not everybody is moving release dates. Not yet, anyway. CD Projekt Red said Cyberpunk 2077 would be launching on time. Square Enix said on Monday that it would be shipping copies of Final Fantasy VII Remake “earlier than usual,” so players in Europe and Australia would be able to buy the title even before its official April 10th release.
That said, Schreier expects more imminent delays. So by the looks of it, The Last of Us Part II will not be the last of them.
