Upcoming cyberpunk dystopia game, Neon District, will have its release date pushed back to the summer months of 2020 by its developer Blockade Games, according to a letter published to the game’s community by Chief Executive Officer Marguerite deCourcelle.
“We regret to announce a delay in the shipping of Neon District due to unforeseen circumstances,” deCourcelle said. “With critical members of our team experiencing individual hardships from hospitalization to family health issues in conjunction with an extremely tight budget, we’ve missed a few milestones necessary to hit our targeted ship date.”
Neon District is a blockchain-enabled game, which will use the technology to allow players to own and trade their own character’s equipment in the cyberpunk RPG universe. This also means that equipment earned through gameplay will hold its own value, as the blockchain-based technology will provide proof-of-ownership of in-game items and cosmetics.
With much of the game already produced and ready to go, deCourcelle added that pushing the launch date will allow the game’s developers to sort themselves out and make certain that the game has all the polish necessary.
So far, the company has built the game’s entire blockchain infrastructure – necessary for tracking and trading the virtual items and equipment of the characters. This infrastructure will enable what deCourcelle calls the “the free-to-play and play-to-earn ethos within Neon District.”
According to the letter, the artwork for Season One is complete, special effects and animation pipelines are nearly complete, and fully customizable characters will come to life over the next few builds. Finally, the web portal is feature-complete and ready for use.
Remaining critical pieces that remain are significant updates related to feedback from the community during Season Zero.
The company says that it has taken a long look at feedback from Founders and will be making an iterative pass on environments, enemies, and mission givers. This will also include updates to comic interstitials and storyline transitions.
Finally, the team is also building a 3D landscape map of the city where Neon District takes place to enhance the depth and immersion within the game.
“Moving forward we’re looking at a mid-summer release date, with internal builds shipping weekly for feedback from now up until the new public release date,” said deCourcelle.
It is not uncommon for video game projects to overrun projected launch dates and this is true even of AAA games with massive development teams. The blockchain gaming industry is still a burgeoning industry that is filled with game startups attempting to put their best foot forward.
The delay of Neon District means that the team will have some extra time to produce a polished, well-developed product and at the same time treat their developer team well. This is also reflected in current events with the delay of Cyberpunk 2077by CD Projekt Red.
“Our goal is to deliver on the highest quality experience possible,” deCourcelle added, “and we hope that you will continue to join our efforts in making Neon District a reality.”
Blockade Games also recently released the full pre-launch story for Neon District as a book on Amazon for players who want to catch up with the game before the launch. The book is titled Neon District: The Future. Edited., and has two versions, a Kindle ebook and a $5.99 paperback.
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