Following the recent delay of Cyberpunk 2077 from November to December, Ubisoft has announced that two titles – Rainbow Six Quarantine and Far Cry 6 – are being delayed as well. In their case, both games will now be released in mid-to-late 2021. The announcement came today in Ubisoft’s Q2 earnings report.
The Far Cry 6 Delay Announcement
Far Cry 6 was first announced earlier this year. The release date of the game was set to be the 18th of February, 2021. However, following today’s announcement, the launch will now fall sometime after the 1st of April. In a post-report earnings call, the studio clarified that Far Cry 6 should now launch in the first half of fiscal year 2021. This means that the game will be launching sometime between the 1st of April and the 30th of September.
“While we know you are all anxious to get your hands on Far Cry 6,” reads a statement released on social media; “we want to let you know that we’ve been given more time to allow us to make this the game you aspire to play while focusing on the well-being of our teams in this unprecedented global context.”
Indeed, Ubisoft cites the challenges of working during the pandemic as the sole reason for the delay. According to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, COVID-19 is actually the only obstacle to releasing both games on time. “Those two games could have been launched [on schedule] without COVID,” he explains; “For sure.”
CD Projekt Red has recently drawn criticism for forcing staff to endure mandatory crunch in order to meet the release date of Cyberpunk 2077. (Explicitly breaking promises made by the studio management in the process.) As such, it’s encouraging that Ubisoft appear to be prioritising the well-being of their staff. Hopefully, this delay avoids the need for crunch in the development of Far Cry 6. Indeed, other studios should look to their example in the context of working during COVID-19.