Vampyr has been delayed to spring 2018, developer Dontnod Entertainment has announced. The game was previously scheduled to release later this year for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
According to Dontnod Entertainment CEO Oskar Guilbert, the main culprit for the delay was a technical problem, which has now been solved. He said that before the issue surfaced, the team was convinced that the game would meet its scheduled launch this year.
"Delaying the release of a project you hold dear is always a tough decision," Guilbert said. "However, we believe that meeting a deadline should never compromise quality."
That last bit is a welcome sentiment in this age where big-name studios unapologetically release incomplete and buggy games just to meet a deadline. The delay gives the team enough time to polish and to balance the game, said Guilbert.
He closed his announcement by thanking the publisher, Focus Home Interactive, for giving them the necessary resources and room to give players a memorable experience.
Vampyr is an action-RPG set in a fictionalized gothic London when the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic was in full swing. It follows the story of Jonathan Reid, a doctor who was turned into a vampire. Due to his undead condition, he must now find a way to deal with both his urge to kill and suck blood from civilians and his duties as a doctor.
Jonathan can accumulate experience points, learn new abilities, and equip melee weapons throughout the game. Players can choose to go the pacifist route and regularly ignore his need for blood. In exchange, he will be deprived of the chance to level up and become stronger to deal with adversaries. But it is possible to beat the game without killing innocent people, which results in a different ending.
Vampyr is much larger in scale compared to Life Is Strange, so it's important for Dontnod Entertainment to take a cautious approach to make sure the game comes out just as they had envisioned.
Speaking of Life Is Strange, the developer is also working on a full-fledged sequel. Life Is Strange 2 is separate from Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, which serves as a prequel to the first game and centers on Chloe Price.