Every Major Game That's Been Delayed in 2021 So Far

As we get deeper into 2021, a harsh reality is setting in for gamers: Major delays are rampant. In our 2021 predictions, we noted that this was a very real possibility due to the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. While some of 2020’s releases got shuffled around, those games were largely near the end of their development cycle. The real worry was what the pandemic would mean for games that weren’t quite as far along.

That anxiety is quickly turning into reality. Delays are dropping left and right, as some of the year’s biggest games move further down the line or to next year. That’s leading to a much slimmer release schedule than fans initially expected heading into what was expected to be an exciting year for gaming. Here’s a roundup of all the major video game delays that have happened so far.

Outriders (April 1)

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Outriders had a tough time locking down a release date. Originally positioned as one of the big games that would launch alongside next-gen consoles in late 2020, developer People Can Fly quietly pushed it back to February 2. As 2021 got into full gear, the game got delayed once again, this time to April 1. Before the release, players got a demo on February 25 that covered the first few hours of the full game.

Returnal (April 30)

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Among Sony games, Returnal always seemed like the biggest lock to hit its release date. While Sony was vague about dates for games like Ratchet & Clank: Drift Apart and Horizon Forbidden West, it had been firm on the third-person shooter’s March 19 release date. It had even shown up consistently in sizzle reels over the past few months, which made it seem like it was relatively safe from a delay. Unfortunately, Sony delayed it by a little over a month to April 30 to allow developer Housemarque to polish the game. At this point, this list is starting to look fairly identical to the list of our most anticipated PS5 games.

Resident Evil Re:Verse (July 2021)

Miraculously, Resident Evil Village made its planned May 7 release date with no delay. That’s an increasingly rare feat among big studio productions this year. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Resident Evil Re:Verse. The multiplayer game was supposed to launch the same day as Village, but now it was quickly pushed back to a vague summer 2021 window, which became a slightly less vague July 2021 window. The decision came shortly after the game’s first beta, which was full of matchmaking issues. Capcom did not cite a reason for the delay.

Humankind (August 17)

Even games that are just weeks away from launching aren’t safe from potential delays. Just a few weeks before grand strategy game Humankind was supposed to drop, the game was pushed back to August 17. The Civilization-like game’s sudden shift sounds a little more standard than some of the other titles on this list. Developer Amplitude Studios simply notes that it’s taking more time to respond to player feedback from a recent test. It’ll take an extra few months to work on features like accessibility, A.I., and pacing.

New World (August 31)

Not even Amazon is immune from the current game delay wave, though that may have less to do with COVID-19 than it does for other games on this list. The company has been trying to break into gaming for quite some time now, with weak results. Its free-to-play multiplayer game Crucible had a particularly rocky life span after it was put back into beta and then outright canceled. Amazon’s next game, New World, is having similar problems. Originally scheduled to launch this spring, the game has now been pushed back to August 31. Amazon says the decision was made to ensure the game had a proper endgame when it launched, so it’s likely the studio is trying to avoid the same pitfalls games that Marvel’s Avengers hit at launch. A closed beta for the game is now scheduled to open on July 20.

Riders Republic (September 2)

Following Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake’s delay, Riders Republic was the sole Ubisoft game that had yet to be pushed back in some form. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long. Originally scheduled for a February release, the game was originally pushed back to “later this year,” with no specific time frame attached. We wouldn’t get its September 2 release date until this year’s Ubisoft E3 presentation, which finally shared full details on the game.

Deathloop (September 14)

It has been a long road to Deathloop. When Arkane Studios announced its stylist first-person shooter, it seemed like it was primed to launch with the PS5. The game was eventually moved out of 2020 and scheduled for a Q1 2021 launch. That quietly became a May 21 launch day. Now, it’s getting pushed back even further, with Arkane citing the health and safety of its team as a primary reason for the delay. Deathloop will now launch on September 14, 10 months after the PS5’s launch last November.

Back 4 Blood (October 12)

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There’s some good news and bad news for Back 4 Blood. Let’s start with the bad. The Left 4 Dead spiritual successor was supposed to launch this summer, but it has been delayed to October 12. No specific reason was cited for the move outside of the usual “need more time” note. The good news is that the multiplayer game will get an open beta this summer. So, fortunately, players will still get a chance to play it around the time the full game was supposed to launch.

Axiom Verge 2 (Q3 2021)

Axiom Verge 2 is set to be one of this year’s biggest indie titles. The Metroidvania-style game is a long-anticipated sequel to a beloved 2015 classic. It’s such a hot commodity that Epic snatched it up as a PC exclusive via the Epic Games Store. However, its release date has been a little wishy-washy. It was initially supposed to launch in 2020 before being pushed to the first half of 2021. Now it’s been delayed again, to the third quarter of 2021. No exact date was given, so we’re still no closer to knowing when it’ll land.

Halo Infinite (Holiday 2021)

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While it was originally scheduled for a 2020 launch alongside the Xbox Series X debut, Microsoft delayed Halo Infinite indefinitely. We now know that the company is planning for a fall 2021 launch, putting it a full year out from its original release plan. Like many games on this list, it’s not fully clear if the pandemic has been a key factor in Halo’s delay. While companies like Ubisoft have been transparent about the struggles of work from home, others are a bit more tight-lipped about why the schedule shakeups are happening. Whatever the case may be, Halo Infinite’s delay is the most significant to occur yet.

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach (Late 2021)

For fans of the Five Nights at Freddy’s series, the road to the upcoming Security Breach has been a long one. The horror game was originally supposed to launch in late 2020, but it was quietly pushed to early 2021. Four months into the year and we hadn’t heard a peep about a release date. Now creator Scott Cawthorn has confirmed that the game is moving to late 2021, putting it a full year out from its original launch window. Cawthorn notes that the game’s scale has ballooned during the development process and it requires more time and money to complete.

Ghostwire Tokyo (Early 2022)

The hero of Ghostwire Tokyo uses supernatural powers.

It didn’t come as much of a shock when Ghostwire: Tokyo got a delay. First announced at E3 2019, the game has barely popped up since. It got one gameplay trailer, which gave a sense of how it plays, but few details otherwise. Considering how 2021 has gone so far with delays, a pushback was starting to feel inevitable. That hunch was correct, as Ghostwire: Tokyo is now slated for an “early 2022” launch. The game’s developer cited team health and safety as a main reason for the delay, which has become a common refrain this year.

God of War (2022)

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When Sony officially revealed the PS5 in 2020, it made a lot of big promises. We saw games like Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Horizon Forbidden West, which set some gargantuan expectations about the console’s first year. The most eyebrow-raising moment came when Sony revealed a sequel to 2018’s God of War. Despite only getting a logo reveal, Sony placed a 2021 release date on it, which seemed unrealistic at the time. So it came as no surprise when Sony finally delayed the game to 2022 following a year of silence on the project.

Gotham Knights (2022)

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Gotham Knights was originally scheduled to launch sometime in 2021, but many fans predicted that a delay was inevitable. So it’s not surprising that the next big Batman game has been pushed to 2022. Warner Bros. casually announced the game’s new launch window with a generic message about giving the game more development time. At this point, it’s more shocking when major studio games release on time, rather than when they don’t.

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen (2022)

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Last summer, Bungie announced an ambitious and thorough plan for the next few years of Destiny 2. The developer planned to drop three major expansions, one each year until 2022, starting with 2020’s Beyond Light. This year, the plan was to continue that expansion’s story with The Witch Queen, but now those plans are changing. Bungie has delayed the expansion to the first half of 2022 due to the coronavirus and the game’s scale, meaning players won’t get a major Destiny 2 expansion this year. Bungie did not mention whether 2022’s Lightfall expansion would also shift as part of the schedule change.

Gran Turismo 7 (2022)

Gran Turismo 7 getting delayed is both surprising and entirely obvious at once. Sony seemed pretty confident that the game would not only launch in 2021, but in the first half of the year. Considering that anticipated release window, it seemed like the game was likely in good shape and would launch by the end of the year, even with a delay. However, Sony has been entirely silent on the game, signaling that something was off. In an interview with GQ, Sony confirmed that the game was undergoing “COVID-related production challenges” and would now launch in 2022. With that big delay, it now looks like only three major Sony first-party releases will come out in 2021 … and that’s only if Horizon Forbidden West still drops in 2021 as planned.