Bethesda's Deathloop now has a confirmed release date of May on PlayStation 5 and PC. The game casts players as Colt, an assassin stuck in a time loop on an island full of eight particularly cooky antagonists. Colt must eliminate all eight in order to end the loop and return to the regular forward thrust of time. Of course. he also has to deal with another assassin named Julianna who's tasked with protecting the time loop and sending Colt back to the beginning. Players can assume this role and jump into other players' games, similar to the Invasion mechanic in Dark Souls.
Deathloop will be one of two Bethesda games hitting PlayStation consoles before arriving on Xbox Series X – the machine built by the company that recently purchased its parent company Zenimax, Microsoft. This is due to a deal signed between Sony and Bethesda before it became a subsidiary under Microsoft's Xbox division. In fact, rumors flew around not too long ago that Sony was also looking to lock up Starfield as a console exclusive just as the acquisition deal was to be finalized. Microsoft has published would-be Xbox exclusives on other platforms before, but nothing on the level of Deathloop, and all signs point to the developer not continuing to be so generous with its games going forward.
In a new official trailer released today, Deathloop is hitting PlayStation 5 and PC on May 21, 2021, a date that was already leaked earlier this week. The trailer gives players a sample of the lead character's Colt voice as well as a few of the partygoers who are forever celebrating on the eternally resetting island the game takes place on. Deathloop was initially set for a release in late 2020, likely aiming to be a PlayStation 5 launch title. However, developers Arkane Studios delayed the game in August 2020, citing the ongoing global pandemic as the reason.
Deathloop (as well as fellow PlayStation exclusive GhostWire: Tokyo) are advertised to be exclusive to PlayStation consoles for a whole year, but the deal does etch out room for a PC release. This has been standard for console exclusivity deals in the past, with notable PS5 launch games like Bugsnax and Godfall also hitting PC platforms this week. However, in this case, it does give Microsoft a (death)loophole that could let it reap the rewards of Bethesda's work at launch instead of waiting a year. Microsoft has a PC subscription aspect of their popular Game Pass service up and running, so a release onto that would erode some of the benefits Sony sees from the deal and let Xbox players sample these games sooner.
A May 2021 release is much later than many anticipated for Bethesda's Deathloop, which was first announced all the way back at E3 2019. However, much like the movie industry, players can likely expect a much more loaded 2021 as many 2020 projects get pushed further and further back amid the uncertainty that comes with widespread disease, lockdowns, and all that unpleasantness. Games are in a better place than movies, but with even the oft-delayed Cyberpunk 2077 seeing rumors of yet another jump into next year, it seems that anything is still on the table until humanity can collectively get with the program.
Deathloop is headed to PlayStation 5 and PC on May 21, 2021. It will hit Xbox consoles sometime after May 21, 2022.