Crackdown 3 delayed to 2018

Microsoft is delaying the release of Crackdown 3 from Nov. 7, 2017 to spring 2018, the company confirmed to Polygon today.

Shannon Loftis, Microsoft Studios Publishing general manager, said the company is delaying the Xbox One and Windows PC game to give development teams Reagent Games, Sumo Digital and Cloudgine extra time to ensure a quality experience.

[MadPandaSkills]

Should’ve known this would happen. The game looks awful. Don’t know if a delay will even help at this point.

Phil has done a wonderful job with Xbox. /s

Seriously, Microsoft 1st party are a train wreck at this point.

[FITgamer]

Silver lining. All the games that were delayed in the last 2 years will now give Xbox some first half exclusives.

[tinynuggins]

It works for sony, it'll work for Microsoft. Bummed about the delay but there's plenty to play in the meantime. Give them the extra time to make it better. We like that still right?

[snoopgg]

Hey tiny way to spin it.

[ImGumbyDammit]

If memory serves me that is why Horizon was released in Feb of this year. Otherwise Sony would have released it late 2016 as they originally announced. After spending so much time on a game if it takes a few more months to get some things better tuned then might as well do it. Delaying a game sucks though. Hopefully they do what they need to do.

[morganfell]

"It works for sony, it'll work for Microsoft. "

This is like taking a remark out of context. It works for Sony because they do not delay their only exclusives. It will not work for MS when you delay almost everything you have. It won't work for MS because their main competition, Sony, isn't just releasing 1 or 2 exclusives.

[81BX]

Super lame but I would rather them delay it than push out something they felt could be better. Either way xb1x is coming with plenty to play.

[darthv72]

Interesting way of looking at it FIT.

As unfortunate as this is... I can bide my time with lots of other games that I still have yet to play on both ps4 and xbo.

[uRaDecepticon]

"
This is like taking a remark out of context. It works for Sony because they do not delay their only exclusives. It will not work for MS when you delay almost everything you have. It won't work for MS because their main competition, Sony, isn't just releasing 1 or 2 exclusives."

So neither delays their only exclusives.? Maybe I'm reading it wrong?

[denawayne]

Probably to reskin

[lelo2play]

Yep, Crackdown 3 wasn't looking good.
I don't think a few months delay is going to make much of a difference.

[Sam Fisher]

I guess that guy that got roasted by terry got the last laugh... mark my words the next gears or halo is coming soon.

[Sam Fisher]

This might be the perfect time to buy ms stocks on xbox

[letsa_go]

looooool You don't know anything about the stock market, do you?

[JokerBoy422]

I totally agree that this game needed to be delayed. Sucks for Microsoft though as this was supposed to somehow help them sell Xbox One X consoles.... Crazy as it sounds, this delay will have impact on that console launch now.

[sd11]

I agree and not because people actually wanted the game. The impact from all of the negative news that this, scalebound and the lack of 1st party exclusives this year will have a combined effect. People will lose faith in xbox, which is a shame as they had started to improve their image up to the end of last year. MS could save themselves with a surprise game announcement, but this is more optimistic than realistic. This gen I have really enjoyed Xbox, but I am shaking my head in the same way that I did with the Wii U and wondering what the hell they are doing this year. By years end Halo wars 2 will be the only exclusive game that I will have purchased.

[rainslacker]

i actually doubt that. Do you see this game as a mainstream title that most people would be interested in? The Xbox fans who were interested before aren't likely to let this deter them, because the delay means it will now be an even better game when it releases....supposedly because that's how it always goes.

[Vandamme21]

They need Halo 5 ODLC

[fr0sty]

Circling the drain. This one will get canned.

[sd11]

If this gets cancelled I will be surprised and annoyed. Not to mention the huge impact it will have on Xbox going forward. The cost of hiring Terry Crews and advertising this, plus the years of development makes it seem like Xbox game development would just be a money pit if it were cancelled, particularly after fable and scalebound. This is the sort of thing that could see execs higher up step in and say enough is enough. Which would be a shame as I really like xbox as a gaming system. Of course this is an overly pessimistic comment from me, but this year has been largely negative. Plus to date every major release for 2017, except halo wars 2 and forza 7 have been moved to 2018.
On the flip side 2018 might be packed with games now. FH 4, state of decay 2, sea of thieves, crackdown are all 2018 titles now.

[kellyanne85]

@sd11
W
hen 4 games is considered packed you know you have a problem... And considering 2 if not 3 of those games don't actually have a set date who even knows if they will make it. State of Decay and Sea of Thieves both seem likely to slip.

[sd11]

@kellyanne85 I listed 4 MS games, but that doesn't mean there would not be more. I did not list other exclusives, plus their "launch" exclusives, 3rd party games etc etc. That is just 4 AAA exclusive games, Sony do not release much more than that each year 1st party wise. I am also partly expecting a halo game next year, Ori is another possibility. But I listed the 4 that are the most certain. So yes I think as it stands next year could be quite packed, but I have no intention of listing everything and I also used the term "might". This year however saw the tumbleweeds get lonely.

[Pintheshadows]

If it isn't finished why bring it out?

I'd rather have a game that works than one that is unfinished and broken at launch. Or needs months of polish.

Having said that, it is a bit of blow for the X.

[GTgamer]

I promise you if it wasn't for the heavy criticism Crackdown 3 was getting MS would have released that game in its Current state because every time they showed it they seemed like they were loving everything about it.

[Ashlen]

You have to question Microsoft's whole Xbox strategy with this. I mean they are releasing a new console in a year when they have literally only released one game (Halo Wars 2). And they had more games but they chose to cancel them (Scalebound, Fable ect.). Microsoft's management is terrible Phil has just done a terrible job as boss. Most if not all of the exclusives they have released on Xbox to this point got there start under Don Mattrick. Phil has basically over seen almost no new game development in his time as boss.

[sd11]

I am starting to think Phil needs to move on. Unless he has a good list of unannounced game up his sleeve then at the moment he has floundered flopped and is ready to fail. There have been some great changes to Xbox under his management, but the most important thing for a games console is releasing new games. Currently he is failing his prime directive.

[Atanasrikard]

You know how long game development takes right? You know how long Phil has been the head of Xbox right? Put two and two together. Then pepper in the fact that Phil has stated he doesn't want to announce games that are more than a year from release. Not only that but he stated that when he took over, they were focused on creating a better system. Then they shifted focus to games. I am not overly concerned as we should start seeing game announcements by next E3. And fyi, it isn't a new console, it's an updated version of the Xbox One. He had a lot of mistakes to correct when he took over, I am still on board with what he has been doing.

[BlackTar187]

Atan,

Phil has showcased the same games at E3 for 3yrs and still no releases.

Phil said he wasn't going to show games tat are 2-3 yrs away. Xbox has no games and all you have is games are 2-3yrs away/ This not showing a year early is a stupid strategy I love knowing about games 2yrs in advance it lets me know my future is secure with the platform. With MS you hope they have some games but you have no idea cause they convinced you having nothing with the hope of getting something is a noble practice.

[sd11]

Atan,

I would prefer to know what games are being worked on. The issue is that MS are now concerned that they might cancel games if they do not work out as planned, which creates negative publicity. Personally I think showing games in advance is fine, they just need to be honest about what they are showing. I.e. state that the title might be in early development and it has has an estimated release date of 2-3 years. They could even go further and add a year to the development time. That way if it is released early people would be happy and not annoyed.

[segamaniaco]

Now its a game over for MS

[mark_parch]

so microsoft delayed sea of thieves,scalebound and crackdown 3 from 2016 to 2017 then cancel scalebound and delay crackdown and sea of thieves to 2018. whilst i still enjoy my xbox and ps4 i don't think anybody can argue this year has been shocking for microsoft when it comes to console exclusive AAA games over 12 months and they release halo wars 2 and forza 7

[butchertroll]

Quote from article :

"......With so many great exclusives and new games to play, Crackdown 3 would have shipped into an incredibly crowded market...."

So many exclusives? What are you smoking, Microsoft?

[Christopher]

When they say exclusive now, they literally mean any game that's not on PS4 or Switch. They completely ignore PC when talking about Xbox.

[trooper_]

....I knew this delay was coming.

LOL.

This game was supposed to be a trademark title and its been in development for a while. Microsoft needs to put a foot in their mouth next time.

[Cartman55125]

The ability to delay a game is a sign of strength for a company. It's very costly to keep delaying a product and polishing it. A good sign that Microsoft wants to make sure people get their money's worth. I'm good with this move.

[subtenko]

Your last statement IS true. 1st party xbox is slacking

[Bnet343]

This is a great thing. There's a lot of heavy hitters this fall and more time is never a bad thing. A blessing in disguise in my opinion.

[DarXyde]

Phil has actually done a lot to do well by Xbox. You're pretty consistent in your comment history so I must wonder why you're even in here. Whatever you hold against Xbox, just let it go, mate.

To the topic at hand, we learn a few things from this.

1. I think it's far more than a coincidence that the game they chose to show the cloud is having some serious delays.

2. We've witnessed the single player in action which doesn't use the cloud. I don't recall seeing multiplayer. I think they're struggling to make this a tangible effort.

3. I can't say Microsoft has the same passion for vision as Sony, so I would expect some serious microtransactions. This has been a pretty brutal development cycle and I doubt Microsoft is even slightly interested in taking a loss.

4. I don't know if the problem is on the developer side of things but if it is, I would be EXTREMELY surprised if this studio survives to make another game. They might be kept around for DLC and such, but I don't see them escaping the chopping block otherwise.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

That is a good idea give the game more polish.

[G20WLY]

I'd have preferred they polished Scalebound and scrapped Crackdown 3, personally.

[moldybread]

Sadly Microsoft will bet on familar IP's more so than new one's. Especially after Sunset Overdrive, Ryse and Quantum Break all failed to get a foothold to make franchises out of.

This is the pattern Microsoft does every generation, they release a bunch of games early on and if they don't sell like gangbusters they pull back and rely more on established IP's.

This is probably the best thing they could have done because other games like Recore should have been delayed instead of being put to the fire and dying quickly. It also allows Crackdown 3 to breathe now instead in what is a very popular time to release the game into with tons of competition.

I expect Sea of Thieves to be another 2018 full release. 2017 is going to go down in history as one of their weakest line-ups and putting too much on the Xbox One X to carry them. State of Decay 2 could be another 2018 game leaving just Forza 7 to be the big IP for the entire year, yikes!

[bluefox755]

Same.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

@moldybread

Personally I would rather them take more risk and try to put some new IPs out there, but it's too late for that now, because anything they get started on now won't get released by the end of the year. Sometimes playing it too safe can be risky too.

[DJStotty]

@moldy

well that makes business sense. Why would you invest in a sequel to a new IP that didnt sell that well?

wouldnt that be throwing money down the drain?

[Jinger]

Its not as black and white as picking and choosing... Its not exactly that simple haha

[OmnislashVer36]

Scalebound just needed two changes- better music(some kind of J-rock and western Alt-rock would have worked even), and a better lead. Everything else looked fantastic!

[LiamKreptic]

What is a couple months gonna do? It's not like they can turn this train wreck around and fix it.

[letsa_go]

@Gamer57 uhhhhh what? Sony hasn't had exclusives for 3 years you say?? Ok! 😂😂

[rainslacker]

@letsa_go

Maybe he meant to say that it's had 3 proper exclusives this year? Comes up short on the count, but it makes more sense

[81BX]

Rofl. What in the he'll is a proper exclusive to you?

[Genuine-User]

No amount of "polish" will change the banal gameplay.

[Genuine-User]

I can't go one day without coming across a weirdo on the internet.

What was going through your mind while typing that?

[BiggerBoss]

@Genuine

He doesn't know what "banal" means so he assumes you just learned the word today, like he did. Lmao

[Tacobell323]

Crackdown 3 will look even better now for sure.

[Aenea]

Even true'er 4k! *ducks*

Sorry couldn't resist! 😀

Honestly tho, it didn't look bad at all, wondering how they will now change it...

[andrewsquall]

@Tacobell323 It may even look decent now. If it can come even a tiny bit close to Infamous Second Son in animations and native resolution output on standard hardware, a game released 4 years before Crackdown 3's Spring 2018 date, it will be "better".

[KillZallthebeast]

I agree the first 2 were actually pretty fun this currently looks like hot garbage,

[BlackTar187]

#1 was an awesome game.

#2 was pure Shi7 in every way.

[SixFragz]

No amount of polish can salvage the mess that is Crackdown 3. It either needs to be taken apart and built from the ground up, or taken apart and never put back together.

[subtenko]

how much more polish do you need? This was supposed to come out a few years after xbox one (or was it 360? see its been so long...) and 'the cloud' was supposed to take care of any polishing....

[InTheLab]

That isn't what this is about. They're just loading up next year to make it seem like they put out games when in reality, they have little to offer.

Next year will look like this...

Forza Horizon whatever # they're up to
Halo 6 or maybe it s 7
Crackdown 3
Rando low effort title
Timer exclusive

[Mr Pumblechook]

What a complete cluster****!

[Rimeskeem]

I just feel like this game won't be what it needs to be.

[Godmars290]

Certainly not a showcase for proving what cloud distribution can do. Not after all this time.

[Aenea]

Now I get why cloudgine fell the need to write their own little game to showcase their cloud tech. They knew CD3 would be delayed and they want to sell the cloudgine tech to other developers as well and with a game out there to show what it can do....

[SmielmaN]

It was smart to delay it though. It looks like garbage. A garbage looking game to launch with "The Beast"? Nope.

Now MS will just try to sell consumers on buying an XOX for patch upgrades to current games and it's BC collection. What a waste of money that console will be for consumers....

[Godmars290]

@SmielmaN:
What game does MS have which shows off "The Beast"?

[RememberThe357]

It does have that vibe to it. And knowing that there are three studios working on this game... not a good sign...