Fatshark, developer of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, has announced that the co-op shooter has been delayed from 2021 to Spring 2022. The upcoming game from the Warhammer: Vermintide 2 studio was initially announced this time last year and was finally shown off during The Game Awards 2020, giving fans a glimpse of some of the Warhammer 40K: Darktide's gameplay and visuals.
While the Warhammer 40K universe is best-known for the Space Marines of the Imperium of Man, Darktide focuses on another of the empire’s factions. In the new game, which will feature co-op gameplay very similar to the Warhammer: Vermintide series, players will take on the role of Imperial Guardsmen as they investigate a potential Chaos threat in the Hive City of Tertium on the planet Atoma Prime. There’s a lot to expect from the story and characters of Warhammer 40K: Darktide, as Fatshark has also brought on celebrated Warhammer novelist Dan Abnett to help write its story.
On Thursday, Fatshark published a tweet on the official Warhammer 40K: Darktide Twitter account announcing the game’s delay to Spring 2022. According to the announcement, the studio will be using the extra development time to improve the quality of the game at release as well as work on systems that will enable the developer to "support Darktide for years to come." While the desire to improve the game’s level of quality at launch is easily understandable, the studio’s later statement could mean it’s planning to release more content for the game after release and is potentially making adjustments to make those post-launch goals more attainable.
It’s unclear what systems Fatshark is referring to in its announcement, but the studio does have a history of releasing DLC for its games long after release. As an example, Warhammer: Vermintide 2, which was initially released back in 2018, launched its The Chaos Wastes expansion in April 2021, and more careers for two the game’s five heroes are still planned for release in the future. So if the studio deciding to invest in ways to make the implementation of future content easier, that definitely sounds worth the extra development time.
While it's always unfortunate for fans to see a game they’re looking forward to be delayed, it does mean that the game could potentially be released in a much better state than if it was launched at its initially announced date. It seems like the never-ending delays due to COVID-19 and the memeworthy launch of Cyberpunk 2077 in 2020 has made more developers and publishers cautious about their games' release states, and a prevailing openness to delays rather than launching half-baked products seems to be taking hold in the industry.
Warhammer 40K: Darktide will be available for Xbox Series X/S and PC in Spring 2022.