Less than three months from its initial release, developer Bandai Namco has just announced that it will be delaying it’s upcoming action RPG, Code Vein, to 2019. Originally, the Dark Souls inspired RPG was slated for a late September 2018 release. As unfortunate as this may seem, it doesn’t take away from the fact that Bandai is working hard to make sure this is the best possible product they can make.
As the reception for the game has been positive so far, Bandai Namco still wants to make sure the product exceeds expectation and they want to take the extra time to refine the gameplay. Hervé Hoerdt, Vice President of Marketing and Digital at Bandai Namco Europe, recently spoke on the matter:
“Code Vein has received an enormous amount of positive feedback from eager fans who have received hands-on time with in-development versions of the game over the past nine months. Armed with the knowledge of how well the game has already been received, we made the decision to postpone the release of Code Vein to further refine its gameplay in an effort to exceed the expectations fans already have of the title. It was a difficult decision to make, but we feel it is the correct one.”
It’s worth noting that this could also be an advantage from a sales perspective. September and October are absolutely stacked with major titles. Being released in late September would mean the bloody action RPG would have to compete against the likes of many other established AAA franchises; these would include Spider-Man, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, and many more. This could be a blessing for the developer as could potentially release in Spring 2019, which seems to have a lighter release schedule so far with less competition. With the delay, Code Vein might have the opportunity to fill the whole of hardcore RPG players after their run through of Dark Souls: Remastered.
