Image courtesy of Naughty Dog
It’s not weird for video games to get delayed, but it is weird for them to get delayed immediately after a release date was announced. But that’s exactly what’s happening with The Last of Us Part II, which will no longer be released in February 21 but now on May 29.“It was during the last few weeks, as we were closing out sections of the game, that we realized we simply didn’t have enough time to bring the entire game up to a level of polish we would call Naughty Dog quality,” said director Neil Druckmann in a blog post announcing the delay this morning. “At this point we were faced with two options: compromise parts of the game or get more time. We went with the latter, and this new release date allows us to finish everything to our level of satisfaction while also reducing stress on the team.”The Last of Us Part II was also not the only game delayed today, weirdly.As part of their earnings call, Ubisoft revealed Watch Dogs: Legion, previously scheduled for March, would move to their next fiscal year, between April 2020 and March 2021. Gods & Monsters, Ubisoft’s riff on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, was also delayed from February into an ambiguous, to-be-determined slot. And Rainbow Six: Quarantine, a spin-off of the company’s popular multiplayer shooter, will also be released within that long window.According to a tweet by Kotaku reporter Jason Schreier, the delay of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II will impact the release of another high-profile PlayStation exclusive, the reclusive Ghosts of Tsushima from Sucker Punch. It’ll still be released in 2020, according to Scherier, but will arrive “later in 2020,” to avoid bumping up against The Last of Us Part II.Follow Patrick on Twitter. If you know what's going on with The Last of Us Part II, his email is patrick.klepek@vice.com. He's also available privately on Signal (224-707-1561).