PlayStation has delayed Horizon Forbidden West to early 2022, according to a report from Bloomberg investigative journalist Jason Schreier.
The Japanese gaming giant had publicly been aiming for a holiday 2021 release.
Schreier’s report was corroborating previous comments regarding the delay made on the Giant Bomb podcast by VentureBeat‘s Jeff Grubb. Grubb had said PlayStation was “leaning towards” a delay, while Schreier says a source has stated the decision has been made.
While not yet officially confirmed by PlayStation, Schreier and Grubb are credible sources, and a delay wouldn’t be surprising even without their respective reports. Besides delays being common in general in game development, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, PlayStation has been candid that Forbidden West might not make 2021.
“For Horizon, we think we are on track to release this holiday season,” PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst wrote on the PlayStation Blog in June. “But that isn’t quite certain yet, and we’re working as hard as we can to confirm that to you as soon as we can.”
This would be PlayStation’s third major game pushback this year, following the delay of the untitled God of War sequel and Gran Turismo 7 into 2022. Both games, as well as Forbidden West, are set to come to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Other notable games that have been delayed out of 2021 include Hogwarts Legacy, Gotham Knights and The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.
Forbidden West‘s delay would mean that PlayStation currently has no major new first-party game for this holiday season. However, it’s still got Bethesda’s timed exclusive Deathloop (September 14th) and Kojima Productions’ Death Stranding: Director’s Cut (September 24th) coming to PS5.
However, Grubb did note on the Giant Bomb podcast that PlayStation might formally confirm the Forbidden West delay in a September ‘State of Play’ presentation. He said this show would also be used to reveal other games that are coming to PS4 and PS5 this holiday.
Image credit: PlayStation
Source: Bloomberg
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