Developers across the industry have been transitioning to working from home as the COVID-19 pandemic situation escalates, but as you might imagine, this has also impacted many studios’ work in several ways, with some already having talked about the challenges of hitting their release dates in light of the issue.
And we should probably be prepared for that to continue happening going forward. Most recently, for instance, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty provided a statement to GameSpot, suggesting that with all of their studios having transitioned to full remote work, depending on the unique challenges all of them are facing, they’re not going to rule out delays for any of their games.
“We know that gaming connects people during times of social distancing, and we are committed to delivering the highest quality Xbox Game Studios games for our global community of players,” said Booty. “At the same time, the health and safety of our XGS development teams is our top priority. Each studio is facing unique challenges and constraints depending on its particular location, and many of our external development partners around the world are similarly affected. We are supporting our studio leaders to make the right decisions for their teams and their individual games during this challenging time.”
Of all of Xbox Game Studios’ upcoming titles, the biggest one is without a doubt Halo Infinite, scheduled to launch this Holiday for the Xbox One, PC, and as a launch title for the Xbox Series X. Just recently, developers 343 Industries gave a statement that they had transitioned to full remote work like many others, while also warning that the situation “may get worse before it gets better.”
