Melbourne developer Big Ant Studios announced yesterday it would delay the release of Cricket 22 by one week. The delay follows Tim Paine’s dumping as captain of the Australian cricket team. Paine, who was forced to resign after it emerged he sent nude images to a female colleague, was to be the game’s cover athlete and featured heavily in promotional art around its release.
Big Ant announced via its social media channels that it would push Cricket 22‘s release date to December 2. This, it says, buys time to develop a day one patch that will update the game’s visuals, team lists and menu art.
An important statement on #Cricket22. Please share widely. pic.twitter.com/NE5YizsgHK
— Big Ant Studios (@BigAntStudios) November 22, 2021
“As a result, we have made the difficult decision to delay the game’s release by a week for all platforms both physical and digital,” said Big Ant in a statement.
Twenty-four hours after announcing the Cricket 22 delay, Big Ant provided a second update – Paine has indeed been replaced as the game’s cover athlete. Fast-bowler Pat Cummins, low-key favourite to assume the captaincy, now appears on the digital cover. He is pictured alongside Australian women’s team captain Meg Lanning.
To ensure the highly anticipated #Cricket22 game gets to fans by 2nd December, Big Ant Studios are proud to announce that Pat Cummins, vice-captain of the Australian men’s cricket team, will be on the Cricket 22 digital cover alongside Australian women’s team captain Meg Lanning. pic.twitter.com/NCCcvqNC5r
— Big Ant Studios (@BigAntStudios) November 23, 2021
Unfortunately, it may be too late for Big Ant to do anything about physical copies of the game, which will still sport Paine’s mug on the cover. Should anything change there, we’ll let you know.
Cricket 22: The Official Game of the Ashes will launch on December 2, 2021 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Windows PC.
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