The COVID-19 pandemic has led to delays of nearly half of developers' games. The new stat comes from a new survey from the GDC and highlights the likely multi-year impact on the gaming industry of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many titles in 2020 and 2021 were publicly delayed and it's likely a number of other unannounced games have also been pushed back as well.
Video game delays are nothing out of the ordinary, but there has been an influx of them recently. Gotham Knights was pushed to 2022 last month after an extended period of silence since its reveal. Although not a surprise, it's just one of many games leaving this year, causing the 2021 line-up to shrink even more. Another factor, other than the ongoing global pandemic, is likely that many developers saw the reception of Cyberpunk 2077 and decided to avoid releasing a game in a less than great state if it can be absolutely avoided.
The new GDC report (via VGC) surveyed 3,000 game developers from around the world about the state of the industry. 44% of them said that their game had been delayed due to the pandemic and 49% said no, with the remaining 7% not working on a game. Although the majority of developers haven't had delays, it's only barely edging out the number with delays. Many are expecting Sony to delay God of War: Ragnarok or Horizon: Forbidden West to 2022 as well, especially since there isn't a shred of information about the former (even the title is a placeholder). The report also cited troubles with communications, technology, and being interrupted by children at home, though the majority of those surveyed claim it hasn't disrupted their overall productivity.
Some developers are still trucking along in 2021, despite difficulties. The likes of Call of Duty, Dying Light 2, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart are scheduled for this year, but Call of Duty is reportedly having troubles with development. Nonetheless, there should still be great games to play this year, but expect more delays to come. It's also worth noting delay times weren't mentioned, so it could be months, but it could also be years.
Warner Bros. has been hit the hardest as it delayed Hogwarts Legacy on top of Gotham Knights, limiting its 2021 line-up a lot, but offering a stacked 2022 with the addition of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. It seems likely that a lot of games that had planned to be announced by now also may have put off their marketing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic as well.