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Assume that no release dates or windows are certain in 2021, says reliable industry insider

Published: 08:31, 24 March 2021

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Assume that no release dates or windows are certain in 2021, says reliable industry insider

Halo Infinite

Insider Jason Schreier claims that players should ignore release dates and windows for games that are a month or two away. He states that most big games are going to be delayed this year if they haven't already been.

Plenty of big AAA games have already been delayed out of 2021 and it looks like more delays are on the way. As many analysts predicted, the gaming industry would see the biggest impact of the COVID pandemic in 2021 and it looks like each month we are getting major delay news.

Two massive games Hogwarts Legacy and Gotham Knights have been the most recent ones to get delayed out of 2021 and according to reliable Jason Schreier, no game with a 2021 release date is safe, unless it's launching a month or two from now.

Schreier made a thread on ResetEra, giving players a friendly PSA regarding the 2021 games and their release dates. Here are some interesting bits from his post:

If you see headlines like "Halo Infinite delayed out of 2021??? or, "Jason Schreier says BOTW2 coming this fall?!?!?!" or really anything involving game release dates that are more than a month or two away, ignore them.

During the pandemic, it's safe to assume no release date is solid until the game is actually downloading on your console. (OK, if we're a week out and the release date hasn't changed, you can probably count on it.

Even in the best of times, game developers' timelines are entirely based on educated guesses. During Covid, throw the "educated" part out the window. Madden 22 and Call of Duty Sledgehammer might brute-force their way into coming out on time, but as we've already seen with several big titles over the past few months (Hogwarts Legacy, Gotham Knights etc), most big games are going to be delayed this year if they haven't already been.

So there you have it folks, take the announced release dates and windows and throw them in the bin and just hope that the upcoming delays won't be that bad.

2021 is jam-packed with big games like Far Cry 6, God of War, Horizon Forbidden West and the long-awaited Elden Ring but don't be surprised if games from this list don't actually make it to the shelves this year.