The highly anticipated release of Microsoft’s Crackdown 3 has hit a bump in the road. It was set to release this November alongside the Xbox One X, but it has been bumped to an unspecified date in Spring 2018. This news was confirmed by Microsoft Studios Publishing general manager Shannon Loftis.
“We’re very excited about Crackdown 3, and so are many fans, and so it’s a difficult call to move the release date,” Loftis told Polygon in an email today. “However, we want to make sure to deliver the right game, with the right quality, and at the right time. Crackdown 3 is a hugely ambitious game and we want to ensure we deliver the right experiences all the way through every part of the game, whether that’s campaign, co-op multiplayer or our competitive multiplayer mode, Wrecking Zone. Getting the balance right between the three modes is important, and we are going to take the extra development time to ensure that. Gamers can expect Crackdown 3 in Spring of 2018.”
This is a huge blow to the Xbox One X’s launch lineup as Crackdown 3 was supposed be a major heavy-hitter and one of Microsoft’s few exclusive AAA titles to release this fall. It joins games like Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2 next year instead. Still, Loftis ensured that the Xbox One X will see plenty of great games in the coming months.
“The Xbox One X launch lineup will be one of the greatest lineups of games ever available with a major new console release,” Loftis said. “Not only are there several new Xbox exclusives such as Forza Motorsport 7, Cuphead, Super Lucky’s Tale, and the console launch exclusive PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, there is an incredible list of titles coming this holiday including Middle-earth: Shadow of War, Assassin’s Creed Origins, Call of Duty: WWII, Star Wars Battlefront II, Destiny 2, and more — with many of these titles enhanced to play better on Xbox One X. With so many great exclusives and new games to play, Crackdown 3 would have shipped into an incredibly crowded market.”
Microsoft’s E3 2014 press conference must have been cursed because not only was Crackdown 3 announced on stage that year, but Scalebound was as well, and we all know how that turned out. Let’s hope Crackdown doesn’t experience any more delays or unforeseen development problems.
