It seems like the rumors were true after all- Crackdown 3 will be launching in February 2019, Microsoft has confirmed in a statement to Windows Central. Microsoft’s statement noted that the delay is to “ensure it delivers the experience” that fans deserve- which is an admirable sentiment, but, let’s look at the context.
This game was first teased in 2013, and then properly announced in 2014. It was supposed to have a multiplayer beta in 2015. At GamesCom 2015, we saw a multiplayer destruction demo for the game, and then the game went silent completely. The multiplayer beta did not happen, though Microsoft promised it for 2016. That also did not happen. In 2017, Microsoft finally showed the game’s single player at E3 2017, also announcing it for a November 7 2017 launch, alongside the Xbox One X.
That also did not happen. The game was delayed to “Spring 2018”, and as we now know, it has been further delayed from Spring into February 2019.
Ordinarily, the fact that an actual release month has been specified would help you feel more secure about the new release window, but- we had an actual release date before. It got delayed twice from there, for over a year beyond that date. It will have been five years since the game’s official announcement in 2019- at this point, there is no way this game justifies the endless delays, and the incessant hype. At this point, it’s hard to know that this won’t end up being another release date that it won’t just miss.
Crackdown 3 is due out (I hope) on Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs in February 2019.