Another high-profile video game slipped in 2021. The last victim is Deathloop, the next match from Arx Fatalis en Dishonored creator Arkane Lyon. The French studio attributed the delay to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has forced the team to work from home and, by extension, take more time than expected to develop the game. “We found that delivering this new and exciting experience, at the Polish and quality level that defines both an Arkane game as a true next gen experience, takes longer than normal,” the team said in a tweet. Deathloop is now expected to launch in the second quarter of next year.
To the community, an update on DEATHLOOP: pic.twitter.com/XveoG6AgoT
– DEATHLOOP (@deathloop) August 18, 2020
The game was first announced at Bethesda’s press conference last year. In a cinematic teaser, the publisher revealed that the game will center on two “extraordinary killers” who make their way through a lawless island called Blackreef. Both try to kill each other and, depending on their perspective, protect or destroy the otherwise endless ‘deathloop’. Then, last June, Arkane Lyon returned with a trailer that contained some Dishonored-inspired stealth and powers. Unlike previous studio games, however, there will be an optional multiplayer mode allowing other players to invade your game. (The concept sounds a bit like The Crossing, an old Arkane Lyon project that was eventually canceled.)
