The developer of MechWarrior 5: Vengeance posted the bad news that their game was being delayed to 2019 via Twitter. Studio boss Russ Bullock wrote in detail why the studio made the decision by focusing on delivering the best single-player experience possible.
Important message regarding MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries pic.twitter.com/HKlTSu1EWz
— Russ Bullock (@russ_bullock) June 18, 2018
Fans of heavy-metal mech action will have to remain patient until next year, to get their hands on the newest MechWarrior title. It should not be too much to ask, since a couple more months don’t mean much in the great scale of things. It has been a long, long 16 years of drought since the last time players took control over behemoth mechs in a story focused MechWarrior game, so it stings a little but the reasons why development studio Piranha Games decided for a delay are probably for the best.
In an honest reading tweet, the studio boss explains that they want to get the single-player experience right the first time and thus want to spend more time perfecting their project. A disappointment after more than a decade could end up becoming the nail in coffin for the franchise, despite it being anything but dead.
In fact, the same developer already learned the ropes with the MechWarrior franchise after creating the Free-To-Play Online mech action game MechWarrior: Online in 2013. While not satiating the single-player needs of fans, it did become a success and sort of revived the long-dormant series. This online focused game probably not only excited veteran fans but also garnered a whole new generation, and paved the way for an expansion into a new, single-player focused project.
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is part of the expansive BattleTech Universe, which focuses on real-time commandeering of a single mech. Other game adaptations feature more strategic gameplay, like the recently released turn-based action strategy game BATTLETECH.
Piranha Games boss Bullock also pointed at MechCon this December, where the team plans to bring a new playable demo and a more concrete release date. So stay tuned for more info this winter.
