Forspoken Has Been Delayed [Update: Again]

Update: July 7th, 2022

Looks like we’ll be waiting a little long- Hold on. I feel like I’ve said this before.

The developers of Forspoken, Luminous Productions, have again announced via Twitter that they will be delaying the game. The statement reads:

As a result of ongoing discussions with key partners, we have made the strategic decision to move the launch date of Forspoken to January 24, 2023. All game elements are now complete, and development is in its final polishing phase. We would like to thank you for your continued support and patience on this journey. Your excitement for the game inspires us every day and we cannot wait to share more about Forspoken with you later this Summer!

Based on this statement, it doesn’t seem like the delay comes from a need to polish like last time. Rather, it looks like the developers and their key partners have ultimately decided that the October release date might not do the game justice.

Hey, it could be a complete coincidence here, but only 30 minutes prior to this delay announcement, God Of War Ragnarök had its November 9th release date officially revealed. Perhaps a release date so close to a hyped-up title like Ragnarök might have scared them off.

But of course, that is simply just a Gamer Theory™.

Original: March 8th, 2022

Looks like we’ll be waiting a little longer for Forspoken.

Developer Luminous Productions has announced this morning that their upcoming open-world action RPG title Forspoken has been delayed. Previously planned for release on May 24th, the game will now ship on October 11th.

The team posted a statement on Twitter alerting fans of the delay, saying that the extra time will be spent ‘polishing the game’.

A message from the #Forspoken Development Team. pic.twitter.com/T302V6h4Np

— Forspoken (@Forspoken) March 7, 2022

Forspoken was originally announced by its publisher Square Enix in 2020 as ‘Project Athia’, said to be built exclusively for the PlayStation 5. At that point, the game had no set release date but had showcased quite the spectacle in terms of its open world. It was also revealed that Gary Whitta, the co-writer of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, had been part of the game’s team of writers. He joined Uncharted‘s Amy Hennig, 12 Monkeys‘ Todd Stashwick, and Shadowhunters‘ Allison Rymer.

It was then in March 2021 at a Square Enix showcase that ‘Project Athia’ was given its final name: Forspoken,

More from Forspoken was then shown off at the 2021 Tokyo Game Show, where co-director Takefumi Terada and creative producer Raio Mitsuno shed more light on the game, including its main character Frey. As described by them, Frey is a young woman who falls through a magical portal and finds herself in the magical land of Athia, where she learns magic. If it wasn’t clear, magic plays a huge role in this game, and Frey’s journey towards mastering magic is a large part of the story.

It wasn’t until late last year that we learned of the release date of Forspoken at the trailer-heavy and awards-light Game Awards in December 2021. At the end of a jam-packed gameplay trailer, the release date of May 24th 2022 was confirmed. At this point, Luminous Production’s studio head and general manager Takeshi Aramaki had touted that the studio was ‘aiming to achieve the highest quality visuals ever seen in an open-world game’ for Forspoken.

And now we’re here, in the current year, in the current month, on the current day. And Forspoken has been delayed. From the gameplay footage, the game looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun, and I personally always choose the magical type (be it mage, sorcerer, wizard, etc.) when playing RPGs so I’m pretty stoked about it. Considering the developers’ wishes for Forspoken to be the highest quality when it comes to visuals, there’s no surprise here that they’re keen to polish it until it shines like Bezos’ dome piece.

Until then, we’ll be seeing Forspoken release on October 11th, 2022.