Today Bandai Namco announced via press release that its Souls-like action-JRPG Code Vein has been delayed.
The announcement informs that the game will now be released in 2019, without any further information on a precise release date or window.
The reason for the delay is simple: The team intends to take a while longer to dedicate additional time in development to deliver a higher quality game that can meet and exceed the expectations of the fans.
Bandai Namco Entertainment America Vice President of Marketing Eric Hartness accompanied the press release with a comment explaining the decision, also mentioning that the game has received an “enormous amount of positive feedback.”
“CODE VEIN has received an enormous amount of positive feedback from eager fans who have received hands-on time with in-development versions of the game over the past nine months. Armed with knowledge of how well the game has already been received, we made the decision to postpone the release of CODE VEIN to further refine its gameplay in an effort to exceed the expectations fans already have of the title. It was a difficult decision to make, but we feel it is the correct one.”
Code Vein was scheduled to be released in Japan on September 27th. The western launch would have followed just one day later on September 28th for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
The previous release date was announced just a month ago, so it’s quite peculiar to see a delay after such a short time span. I would not be surprised if the positive feedback received at various events (I honestly haven’t talked with anyone who was less than enthusiastic about the game) convinced Bandai Namco to make a bigger investment to try to turn an already good game into a real hit. Alternatively, they might have realized that the fall quarter is rather crowded this year.
If you would like to pre-order the game despite the delay, you can do so on Amazon. You can also check out the latest gameplay from a couple of weeks ago, a recent trailer, and the latest gallery of screenshots.