With most game developers having fully transitioned to full remote work across the world due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the impacts on production schedules are being felt. Delays for many upcoming titles might be a very real possibility that we might see more of in the coming weeks and months- just recently, Microsoft suggested that they’re not ruling out that possibility for Xbox Game Studios game, and Sony, too, has issued a statement along those same lines.
In a recent update going over the impact of the pandemic on Sony and its many divisions, while speaking about video games, the company said that it expects “no material impact on this business for the current fiscal year,” before adding that they’re “carefully monitoring” the possibility of delays to the production and releases of games being developed by its first parties and its partners.
“Although no issues have emerged so far, Sony is carefully monitoring the risk of delays in production schedules for game software titles at both its first-party studios and partner studios, primarily in Europe and the US,” the company wrote.
The Last of Us Part 2 is currently scheduled to release on May 29, while Ghost of Tsushima is due out less than a month later, on June 26. There’s also Predator: Hunting Grounds, out on April 24, and Marvel’s Iron Man VR, which comes out on May 15. Of these two, Marvel’s Iron Man VR and The Last of Us Part 2 have already suffered delays, while reports have suggested that Ghost of Tsushima, too, was internally delayed. (though all of this was before the pandemic situation developed).
We’ll keep you updated on this situation as it develops, so stay tuned.
