Phoenix Point, the upcoming tactics game from the creator of X-COM, has received a significant delay, with a release now planned for December.
It’s news that those waiting for the game have heard before: Phoenix Point has been delayed, this time until December. Initially scheduled for release on the fourth quarter of 2018, the latest game from X-COM creator Julian Gollop was set for release September 3 before this most recent announcement.
Phoenix Point was funded using the crowd-funding platform Fig and has been in early access since then. The development team broke the news in an update for backers and early access players, acknowledging that they’re likely unhappy about yet another delay, but saying, “we collectively agree that we would rather miss a launch date than ship something that does not meet our exacting standards.”
The developer, Snapshot, also said that its commitment to avoiding crunch necessitated the delay, as there’s more work to be done on the game than can reasonably be finished in just over a month.
Backers aren’t going to be completely empty-handed on the game’s previously expected release date, though. Snapshot is releasing the latest version of Phoenix Point, Backer Build 5, to early access players at that time, which it says is “much more robust.” Snapshot additionally says that it’s still seeking feedback on this latest update to tune the final game.
Replies on the post from backers and early players have been mostly supportive, if understandably disappointed, and the development team has been active in responding to messages. Earlier this year, Snapshot riled up some of the game’s supporters by announcing that it would join the mass migration to Epic Games Store, where it will be exclusive for one year. At that time, it avoided at least some of the backlash that other developers have faced for similar moves by offering full refunds for anyone who pulled out, and a year of free DLC for backers who stuck around.
