Elden Ring delayed to February 25th, 2022
Some supposed leaked (bad) gameplay footage is doing the rounds too
In game development, the flow of time itself is convoluted, with projects centuries old phasing in and out, so we shouldn't be surprised that Bandai Namco have delayed the launch of Elden Ring. The long-awaited new game from the makers of Dark Souls was expected to launch on January 21st, but now it's due on February 25th. Sounds like the usual reason: they want more time to make it good, yeah? Oh, and supposed leaked gameplay footage is doing the rounds, though I warn you that it's a bad and disappointing clip.
Bamco did not say "We want more time to make it good," mind. Oh no. That would be far too straightforward for a Soulslike.
"The depth of the game and the degree of freedom in strategy exceeded the initial expectations, hence it has been decided to extend the development time for final adjustments thus moving the release date to February 25, 2022," they explained. Alright there pal, settle down.
They're still waiting for Game Of Thrones author George R.R. Martin to submit the final script of NPC barks, I reckon. Trying to figure out if he can talk them into replacing "Grenade!" with "Splinters is coming." It's just too long for a bark conveying critical information but he's insisting that with a voice actor speaking at Far Cry 2 speeds... give over, George.
Bamco also announced a 'closed network test' to give select players an early peek in November, though that's only on Xboxes and PlayStations so plllrrbbbb. Not that I'd want to spoil the surprise of seeing Elden Ring for the first time by playing it in limited, test format.
A supposed leaked clip of actual gameplay from the Xbox One version has been bouncing around the cybernet across the weekend, with lawyers playing whack-a-mole trying to shut it down. Search Twitter and you'll likely find a copy. But it's a bad clip. 28 seconds long, bad video quality, just shows a fella standing around, jumping, and bothering some birds, not at all exciting. But maybe you need to see it to believe? Honestly, I'd rather have not seen it. Keep that magic alive until it's in my hands, baby.