Update: Microsoft has confirmed earlier this evening that Crackdown 3 has officially been delayed to February 2019.
"Our fans' response to the signature antics and explosive gameplay of "Crackdown 3" has been incredible." Read the statement provided to the website Windows Central. "To ensure we deliver the experience they deserve, "Crackdown 3" will be launching in Feb 2019. We look forward to sharing more on "Crackdown 3" this Sunday during the Xbox E3 2018 briefing."
It seems Microsoft's E3 conference will showcase more about the game, so stay tuned for more updates in the coming week.
Original Story: Crackdown 3 may not make a showing at E3 2018 this year, let alone be released in 2018.
According to two anonymous sources from Kotaku, Crackdown 3 has been delayed again, this time to 2019.
Crackdown 3 was first announced at E3 in 2014 but has been stuck in development hell for over four years now. The game was planned to launch in 2017 to coincide with the release of the Xbox One X but was pushed back to the fall of 2018 this year. These development problems persisted, even after a split reception at last year's E3.
The game is currently being developed by British studio Sumo Digital but has had three other development teams work on Crackdown 3. Sumo Digital, an independent company, is mostly known for the Forza Horizon 2 and 3 and several of the OutRun games in the early 2000s.
The only development team with a history of working the Crackdown series is Ruffian games, who worked on Crackdown 2. The original Crackdown game, first released in 2007, was developed by the now defunct Realtime Worlds.
Quick Take
This honestly doesn't surprise me, considering how Crackdown has been ping-ponged through several developers and dev cycles at this point. Crackdown is one of the few Microsoft exclusives that can still draw a crowd for the company, but it has been on ice for so long at this point it might be too late to generate hype.What's worse, Microsoft needs some exclusive titles at this point after the cancellation of the likes of Scalebound and Fable Legends. Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2 are carrying the exclusivity banner for now at least, but Microsoft needs something else to stand out at E3 this year.
What are your thoughts on all of this? Surprised that Crackdown 3 is delayed again? Leave your comments below and be sure to check out the rest of our E3 2018 coverage here.
