The list of 2023 video game delays keeps growing, with games like Alan Wake 2, Starfield, and Hollow Knight: Silksong missing their planned launch windows.
Few things feel as inevitable in the video game industry as delays. Ever since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, game delays have only become more and more common as developers find previously set timelines unrealistic and adjust their release plans accordingly. The year is almost over, and we’ve seen plenty of notable AAA games like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Skull & Bones, Pragmata, Alan Wake 2, Alone in the Dark, and Helldivers II shift their release dates. Because video game release date delays are so common, it can be tough to keep track of every game that has had its launch date shifted in some way.
That’s why, just as we did in 2021 and 2022, Digital Trends is rounding up every game delay that’s announced throughout 2023. Here are the high-profile ones that have happened so far, listed chronologically by their new intended release dates.The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR (March 16)
As Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is one of the best games for PlayStation VR, The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR, Supermassive Games’ PlayStation VR2 successor, is a highly anticipated launch title for the upcoming VR headset. Unfortunately, it will no longer make PlayStation VR2’s February 22 launch and will instead be released on March 16. On Twitter, a message from Supermassive Games says this delay will ensure that players “receive the most polished, terrifying experience possible” at release. The game was released on that date to mixed reviews.Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key (March 24)
Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key is the latest in a long line of niche RPGs with a very dedicated fan base. While it was supposed to release on February 24, the game ultimately came out on March 23. “In order to make this game a fitting finale for Ryza and her friends, we have taken on challenges such as adventuring in a vast open field and graphics that express the charm of these characters to the fullest extent,” producer Junzo Hosoi explained in a tweet when Koei Tecmo announced the delay. “Our team will take this additional time to fine-tune the final touches so that we can deliver to all of you who have been following the series the best possible experience in this culmination of Ryza and her friend’s adventures.”The Last of Us Part I for PC (March 28)
Originally slated for March 3, fans will need to wait a little bit longer for The Last of Us series’ debut on PC. One month ahead of that original release date, Naughty Dag announced that the PC version of The Last of Us Part One was delayed by a couple of weeks to March 28. The developer says this delay “will allow us to ensure this version of The Last of Us lives up to your, and our, standards.” Sadly, when The Last of Us Part 1 launched for PC on that new date, the port was still rife with technical issues. EA Sports PGA Tour (April 7)
With less than a month to go until its release, EA made the decision to push back EA Sports PGA Tour by two weeks. Originally slated for a March 24 release, the golf game would eventually launch on April 7, with those who pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition getting early access on April 4. EA pushed it back slightly to line the release up better with the Masters Tournament and “add a few final touches to the game that we are very excited to deliver to all of you, including updates to some favorite courses to reflect 2023 designs.”Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (April 28)
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the eagerly anticipated sequel to Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, got pushed back by six weeks to April 28, from its originally intended March 17 release date. “In order for the team to hit the Respawn quality bar, provide the team the time they need, and achieve the level of polish our fans deserve, we have added six crucial weeks to our release schedule,” director Stig Asmussen explained in a tweet about the delay. The game would go on to launch on April 28, but was rife with technical issues at release.System Shock (May 30 for PC, TBA for consoles)
Nightdive Studios’ long-awaited, crowdfunded remake of System Shock needs a little more time. Initially, Nightdive and publisher Prime Matter promised to release the game in March 2023 but only ended up delivering a final beta to backers this month. The full release will now happen on PC on May 30, with its console ports not yet having release dates. Hopefully, the long wait is worth it for fans of this highly influential game.Amnesia: The Bunker (June 6)
Originally announced last December with a March 2023 release window, Amnesia: The Bunker was pushed to May 16 shortly thereafter by Frictional Games. Then, in April, its release date was once again adjusted slightly to May 23. The developers said the delay will “allow the team extra time to polish the game to perfection and to strategically avoid releasing during a busy week when multiple other games are hitting the market.” That wouldn’t be the final delay the game would see, though, as Frictional Games once again pushed it back by a couple of weeks due to “unforeseen certification issues,” this time until June 6.Venba (July 31)
Venba is a charming cooking game about an Indian-Canadian family, and it is shaping up to be a pretty and culturally rich experience. Originally slated for PC, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch, developer Visai Games delayed it until July 31 so the game could also release on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox Game Pass. It launched on July 31 to critical acclaim, with Digital Trends saying Venba is “a powerful work of interactive fiction” in our four-and-a-half star review.Atlas Fallen (August 10)
Just a couple of weeks after confirming a May release date on Twitter, Deck13 and Focus Entertainment took to the social media platform again to announce that they had pushed the release date of action game Atlas Fallen back to August 10. “Our goal has always been to create a memorable A-RPG experience in a unique setting, with exciting gameplay and the option for fully playable seamless co-op with a friend,” the tweet says. “We’d love to give the game some extra time, which will allow us to deliver the best possible version of Atlas Fallen. To achieve this, we have made the difficult decision to delay the worldwide launch of Atlas Fallen to August 10, 2023.” The game came out on that date to mixed reviews; Digital Trends wrote in a two-star review that “Atlas Fallen is an ambitious game, but one that struggles to live up to that ambition consistently.”Stray Gods (August 10)
Stray Gods is unique within the gaming scene because it’s a playable musical starring a lot of famous voice actors. Originally slated for an August 3 launch, Summerfall Studios delayed it because the PC version of Baldur’s Gate 3 moved up to the same date, and it wanted a bit more time for polish. “We want everyone to have ample space to check out Stray Gods when it launches. Baldur’s Gate 3 is hotly anticipated (by us, too!), and we want to give our fans room to celebrate Stray Gods, the developer explained in a tweet. “We also want everyone to be able to play on their preferred device at launch. This is a huge undertaking for any team, let alone an indie shipping its first title. This extra week allows us to have performance parity as close as possible across every platform.” It came out on August 10 to decent reviews.Immortals of Aveum (August 22)
After an appearance at Summer Game Fest, and with just a month to go until launch, Ascendant Studios and EA made the decision to delay Immortals of Aveum by one month. “In order to realize our full vision, we are going to take a few extra weeks, making our new launch date Tuesday, August 22,” Ascendant Studios explained in a blog post. “This will give us time to further polish the game, finish optimizing all platforms, and deliver a strong launch. We owe it to ourselves and to you to get this right.” The game launched on that date to mixed, but positive-leaning reviews. Digital Trends gave it three-and-a-half stars.Wrestlequest (August 22)
Wrestlequest is highly anticipated by wrestling fans because of how it adapts the sport to a turn-based RPG format featuring iconic wrestlers like Macho Man Randy Savage. It was originally intended for release sometime in May 2023, but about halfway through that month, developer Mega Cat Studios announced that it decided to push the game back to summer 2023. The delay happened because the developers recently “secured a new partnership we are extremely excited about,” which added some unforeseen complications in wrapping development up. A more specific August 8 release date was revealed later. It ended up not making that date either, getting pushed to August 22 just one day before release because the developers discovered a bug that could wipe player saves. The game launched on that new date.Goodbye Volcano High (August 29)
KO_OP’s coming-of-age narrative adventure game Goodbye Volcano High was supposed to come out on June 15, but got delayed to August 29. “The reality is that, with our current workload, we could not have met our June launch date without significant cuts to the quality and scope of the game,” KO_OP explained in a blog post. “This would mean delivering something much different than what we’ve envisioned and worked toward. We don’t want to release anything less than the best version of the game we have been making throughout our development cycle.” Goodbye Volcano High went on to hit that new release date. Starfield (September 6)
Bethesda Game Studios finally revealed a new release date for its highly anticipated sci-fi RPG Starfield. It missed the “first half of 2023” release window Bethesda promised when initially delaying the game, but thankfully only by a couple of months as Starfield launched for PC and Xbox Series X/S on September 6. The game would launch on that date; in fact, players who bought the Premium Edition were given access on August 31. Although the game didn’t quite live up to the astronomical expectations set for it, Starfield is still a solid Bethesda RPG. Baldur’s Gate 3 for PS5 (September 6)
Originally slated to release for PC and PS5 on August 31, the PC release of Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 actually moved up to August 3. Sadly, for PS5 players, the game was pushed back by a week until September 6. “Baldur’s Gate 3 is targeting 60 frames-per-second, and we’re close to achieving that on the platform, but need a bit more extra time,” the developers said of the PS5 delay. “We don’t want to compromise on quality and feel it would be a shame to downscale to 30 fps or make other compromises to hit an arbitrary date. We understand that folks may be disappointed with this, but we’re close enough to reaching new heights for RPGs on the system that the benefits of a short delay outweigh the downsides of rushing the PS5 release and having to downscale.” Like Starfield, it’d go on to hit that date and even give Digital Deluxe Edition owners early access. Baldur’s Gate 3 is also considered one of the best games of the year.Warhammer 40K: Darktide for Xbox Series X/S (October 4)
The Xbox Series X/S version of Warhammer 40K: Darktide was supposed to launch alongside the PC version in September 2022, but that’s not how things ultimately played out. When the game got pushed back to November 30, 2022, the Xbox Series X/S version of the sci-fi shooter lost its release date, but was said to be launching “shortly after” the PC version. That ended up not really being the case as developers at Fatshark revealed that it has indefinitely pushed back the Xbox Series X/S release so it could focus on reworking the crafting and progression systems, fix bugs, and improve the game’s performance on PC over the next few months. After the team did all of that, the Xbox port was finally released on October 4.Front Mission 2: Remake (October 5)
Front Mission 2: Remake, a recreation of a classic mecha turn-based strategy game from Square Enix, was supposed to launch on June 12. Just two weeks before release, though, publisher Forever Entertainment announced that it was delaying the game until the third quarter of 2023. “We want to ensure that we have sufficient time to add as many functionalities as possible while proceeding with proper implementation and tests,” a tweet stated as the reason for the delay. That new date was eventually revealed to be October 5, and Front Mission 2: Remake came out seamlessly on that day.Forza Motorsport (October 10)
Forza Motorsport had a spring 2023 release window when it reappeared at 2022’s Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase, but when it was featured in January 2023’s Developer_Direct, that release window changed to just 2023. At the June 11 Xbox Games Showcase, an October 10 release date for Forza Motorsport was confirmed. It launched on that day to critical acclaim.Hellboy: Web of Wyrd (October 18)
Hellboy: Web of Wyrd, an action game based on the comic book character Hellboy, was going to launch on October 4. With less than a week to go until launch, though, publisher Good Shepherd Entertainment made the decision to delay the game a couple of weeks to October 18. “Developer Upstream Arcade is still hard at work ensuring that all players — longtime fans and newcomers to the Hellboy universe alike — receive the best experience possible,” a press release explained, although this new date put its launch right next to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. It came out on that day, but received poor review scores.Endless Dungeon (October 19)
Amplitude Studios and Sega’s unique twin-stick shooter, tower defense, and roguelite hybrid Endless Dungeon was supposed to come out on May 18, but the game was pushed back until October 19 just over a month before launch. “This additional time will allow Amplitude to better incorporate community feedback essential to such an innovative game and continue in the footsteps of its previous titles in the award-winning Endless Universe,” a press release about the delay explained.
