After its surprise reveal back at E3 2014, the road to release has been a bumpy one forCrackdown 3. The complex project has no doubt continued to evolve since its initial reveal, with some reports even citing thatdevelopment has been rougher than expected. Even though the game looks to be back on track, Microsoft surprised many fans by announcing that the game won’t be making its November release date as it has been delayed into spring 2018.
The news was delivered by Microsoft Studios Publishing general manager, Shannon Loftis, who revealed that the goal is to give more development time to ensure a quality experience. The added months of development time will be used to make sure thatCrackdown 3delivers a high quality experience through each part of the game, whether through the single player campaign, co-op campaign, or the multiplayer component known as Wrecking Zone. Microsoft also plans to tinker with the visual presentation as well, which was one of the criticisms surrounding the title after its E3 2017 reveal.
The title wasintended to be a AAA launch titlefor Microsoft’s new Xbox One X hardware, releasing on November 7 together. While the delay can be seen as a big blow to the launch lineup, Microsoft doesn’t see things that way. Loftis remains excited by what will be available for gamers on launch day, going as far as calling the selection “one of the greatest lineups of games ever available with a major new console release.” The lineup is headlined by exclusives likeForza Motorsport 7, Super Lucky’s TaleandCupheadalong with a number of third party games includingMiddle-earth: Shadow of War.
While the delay is unfortunate, it’s clear that the success of this ambitious title is very important to Microsoft who has three different studios actively working on the game. Not only is the gameworld twice as large as the original title, Microsoft is pushing the technical aspects of the game as well. This includes immersive 4K resolution and competitive multiplayer that fully utilizes cloud-computing to quickly process complex features such as open world destruction.
Crackdown 3launches in the Spring of 2018 for PC and Xbox One.
