Phoenix Point is hitting some trouble once again. The game has gone through quite the chaotic development cycle. The developer, Julian Gollop first teased Phoenix Point on Twitter in March 2016. Then in June 2017, the Fig crowdfunding campaign raised $765,948 to fund development of the spiritual successor to X-COM.
Things looked to be going well, until the project was delayed in 2018, citing a variety of issues with ongoing development and the quality of the product.
With this latest news, yet another delay has been announced on the Snapshot Games forums. The game is now due for release in December, assuming there is not another delay. At this point, fans are really running out of patience, judging from some of the feedback I’ve seen online. Julian Gollop, the director of Phoenix Point and creator of the original X-COM, posted a video explaining the delay. You can see that below.
“We know this is not our first delay, and we are very sorry to the fans who we know are highly anticipating getting their hands on Phoenix Point. No one is more disappointed than we are, but we collectively agree that we would rather miss a launch date than ship something that does not meet our exacting standards.”
As of now, the new release date for the game is set for Phoenix Point will release in December 2019. And while delays are very common in the games industry, it’s hard to see good things in situations where a game is hit with multiple delays. And in a genre like the one this game is targeting, it’s very easy to deliver a poorly optimized and executed gameplay experience.
Although there is some good news with all of this, as backers are about to get a new build of the game with much more polished features included. Backer Build 5 is due on September 3rd, the same day the game was originally supposed to fully launch. This will allow backers and fans to at least get their hands on a more developed version of the final game, one that focuses on “a much more dynamics, systems-AI-driven world,” that “probably deviates most [from Firaxis’ XCOM games] on the strategic level of the game.”
What do you think of this whole mess? Let us know if you’re still on board for Phoenix Point in the comments.
