Microsoft Explain Reasons Behind Crackdown 3 Delay

There was much to excite Microsoft fans at this year’s E3 Expo – not least the announcement of two new consoles – but fans of the Crackdown series will have been disappointed by the absence of Crackdown 3 from the convention.

Crackdown 3 is set to mark the debut of the open world, third-person shooter series on the Xbox One and was announced at E3 2014. Further info on the title was announced at Gamescom 2015 and it had been expected to hit the shelves before Christmas 2016.

However, Dave Jones, Creative Director of Reagent Games, the developers of Crackdown 3, explained that the game’s absence from E3 indicated that it wouldn’t be released until 2017 and attributed this to the team’s emphasis on creating a memorable multiplayer experience.

“It has become clear that our original timeline of delivering multiplayer to fans this summer, while maintaining the size, scope and quality of the game, would be challenging,” Jones said. He also noted that the team hoped to create a multiplayer experience that would “redefine” gamers’ expectations of an online experience.

Xbox Marketing Manager Aaron Greenberg has since offered further information on the reasons for Crackdown 3’s delay this week. “We don’t need the game this year,” he said, with surprising honesty. “We’ve got ReCore, we’ve got Forza Horizon 3, we’ve got Gears of War 4, we’ve got Dead Rising 4.”

Microsoft were, Greenberg emphasized, reconsidering their release strategy and wanted to space out the release of AAA titles as much as possible. The pre-Christmas period has historically been packed with major releases and Microsoft clearly feel gamers have enough big titles to look forward to in this period.

Few details of the setting and story of Crackdown 3 have been leaked, though, as Gamespot reported before E3, the discovery of a possible teaser site for the game led to hopes that a beta version of the game may be on the horizon.

As yet, this is unconfirmed. Crackdown 3 has, however, been officially confirmed by Microsoft for both the Xbox One and PC and further info on the game will no doubt emerge as 2017 draws closer.

Related Topics: Aaron Greenberg, Crackdown 3, Dave Jones, Microsoft, Reagent Games

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