People Can Fly recently announced it was delaying its upcoming looter shooter Sci-Fi RPG, Outriders, from February 2, 2021, to April 1. While this may seem unfortunate, it’s to “spend this extra time fine tuning the game and focusing on delivering a fantastic play experience at launch,” and indeed, this is key to the game. Outriders is not a service title, and its first impression is going to go a long way in establishing itself.
However, even given this caveat that is uncommon to most looter shooters (because they are Games-as-a-Service title), players should not see this delay as a bad thing. Indeed, this Outriders delay happened, but People Can Fly announced this with an air of confidence.
Back in August 2020, we spoke with People Can Fly regarding Outriders‘ release date, which at the time was still on track for Holiday 2020. PFC acknowledged how COVID-19 had tested the company and did, in fact, impact the game’s development. As such, the initial delay to February 2 wasn’t surprising, even if the company hadn’t decided it at the time. There’s a good chance that COVID-19’s impact is still the reasoning for this delay (as it likely delayed how much fine tuning can be done), there’s a good chance in its response to how Cyberpunk 2077 launched, or any number of reasons. Delivering that day one experience is key to Outriders.
As a result, Outriders‘ delay seems like an inevitable byproduct of the current industry atmosphere, yet instead of apologizing and passing this off, People Can Fly upped the ante. It promises to continue fine tuning but also confirmed that there will be a free Outriders demo in February 2021.
Regarding the demo, it’ll be available on February 25, 2021, allow players to access the “first few hours” with all four classes (the Pyromancer, Technomancer, Trickster, and Devastator), single-player and co-op will be available, and most importantly, migration and full progress carry-over into the main game. This demo itself has some big implications for the release of Outriders.
First and foremost, this likely locks in the April 1 release date. Multiple delays aren’t unheard of in the industry, as this is technically the game’s second, but it’s unlikely there will be a third because fans will be getting their first taste. To be delayed again would likely mean that many who played the demo would forget what they played and could easily be lost when returning/starting Outriders again. Secondly, it may set the tone for pre-orders and the game’s general popularity, so if it’s not in a good playable state, it may sour that. In our preview of Outriders, it was already highly impressive and adrenaline-pumping, but it’s worth mentioning as, in this industry, anything can happen.
Perhaps the most important point, however, is how there is a full migration and progress carry-over into Outriders. PFC has set itself up with a very consumer-friendly approach to this game, and this is a result of that. Oftentimes, betas or demos do not carry over, and while there is some reasoning there, People Can Fly is showing how confident it is that players can start and will want to start the game in February and continue right where they left off. It’ll be interesting to see if this confidence pays off, but one thing’s for sure: looter-shooter fans and Sci-Fi RPGs need to keep their eyes on Outriders.
Outriders launches April 1 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X, with a Stadia version also in development.
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