So it turns out that not even Naughty Dog is immune to the now stomach-droppingly familiar new-gen delays. Previously cited for release this year, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, is now scheduled for a Spring 2016 release date.
A note from game directors Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann on the PlayStation Blog states “Since we showed you our first gameplay reveal of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, more of the game and story have come together, and it’s become clear to us that this game is much more ambitious than we originally envisioned.”
“After spending so many years with Nathan Drake, he means a lot to the team and telling the climactic chapter of his adventures is a task we don’t take lightly - this game deserves every bit of the attention to detail, precise pacing and nuanced storytelling Naughty Dog is known for.”
Promising that “the team at Naughty Dog will be heads down working through 2015” to make sure Drake’s story gets the closure he needs, Straley and Druckmann thank us us all for our patience.
It’s a familiar story. No one wants a replay of Assassin’s Creed Unity’s PC release or the problems of Halo’s online multiplayer. New-gen games are an unparalleled task with GTA 5 taking up years of Rockstar’s time and hundreds of members of staff. Naughty Dog is accepting that its taking longer than anticipated and thankfully won’t sacrifice the quality of their game in exchange for a pre-Christmas release.
In terms of the year ahead, there are plenty of big games on the horizon across all platforms - MGS5, Star Wars Battlefront and The Division to name but a few - but this was Sony’s exclusive ace for winter 2015. Xbox One has not only Rise of the Tomb Raider but also Halo 5: Guardians incoming.
PS4 still has the ridiculously exciting No Man’s Sky in terms of exclusives but nothing in the same league as Uncharted. Yet a number of high profile releases could easily now follow Naughty Dog’s lead (collar and all) and sneak into 2016 as new-gen continues to have teething issues with development.
Plenty of cross platform releases means there’ll definitely be no shortage of games for PS4 this Christmas, but those wanting to catch up with Mr charmingly half-untucked will just have to wait a little longer for a "thrilling, emotional ride."
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