Bugbear Entertainment’s Wreckfest has had some trouble living up to the legacy of the Flatout franchise. Though it received favourable reviews at launch for PC, its Early Access period saw numerous delays and issues. The Xbox One and PS4 versions were originally slated to release on November 20th (after being delayed from their initial 2017 release date). However, they’ve recently been pushed back again, this time to 2019.
Currently, the development team is working on performance issues and polishing the multiplayer for the console versions. THQ Nordic senior producer Roger Joswig’s noted in a recent statement, “Wreckfest for consoles will only be released as soon as we love playing it. After the fantastic release on PC, the benchmark for the console release is much higher.
“At this moment, the team needs more time to polish the multiplayer part, as well as the overall performance on the game to bring it up to par with the experience on PC. We are sorry for keeping fans waiting longer because of this. However, we already have compensation in the form of further vehicles, including a special crazy vehicle, in the works for consoles.”
On the one hand, the delays are unfortunate for eager console fans. On the other hand, they will (hopefully) lead to a more polished product which is more fun to play. It could go either way, honestly, but at least the developer is putting in the effort to ensure a fun experience for all. Meanwhile, the PC version of Wreckfest has been seeing a fair number of updates since launch, so it might be worth checking out in the meantime.