Forspoken, one of the bigger PlayStation 5 console exclusives, has been delayed again. Announced initially during the PlayStation 5 reveal event in 2020 before the system’s release, Square Enix’s action role-playing game has moved out of its holiday window and will now release on January 24, 2023 on PC and PS5. It’s the third new release date for the game, as it was initially set to launch on May 24 of this year before being pushed again to October 11.
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In a tweet announcing the delay, publisher Square Enix blamed the shift on a “strategic decision” but didn’t investigate it much further. It also thanked fans for putting their continued support behind an unknown property and promised that new information about the game would be forthcoming later this summer.
An update on #Forspoken. pic.twitter.com/sRLvXX2kjS
— Forspoken (@Forspoken) July 6, 2022
News also broke today about God of War: Ragnarok’s release date on November 9. Considering that God of War is also a major PlayStation exclusive releasing this holiday and how this delay was a “result of ongoing discussions with key partners,” it’s possible that the powers that be at Sony or Square Enix thought it was best to space out the releases and give PS5 owners a chance to breathe between huge adventures.
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Forspoken is now closer to other big Square Enix titles set for next year, but its January release will likely give it more than enough breathing room, as Final Fantasy 16 is scheduled for summer 2023 and another entry in the Final Fantasy VII remake series set for a winter release. However, as was seen in February 2022, it might be in direct competition with a host of other games delayed out of 2022 and that are now set for early in the year, a situation that became a yearly tradition even before the global pandemic made the process of releasing video games that much more difficult.