The unfortunate tradition of several planned Fall/Holiday releases slipping into next year has officially begun, it seems. After Square Enix recently announced that their PlayStation 4 remaster compilation, Kingdom Hearts 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue, along with the anticipated Western localization of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King for Nintendo 3DS, were slipping into 2017, it seems that another high-profile RPG release is also being bumped into next year. Ubisoft has announced today that South Park: The Fractured But Whole, originally scheduled to launch this December, has now been delayed into early 2017.
Ubisoft attributed the delay to a need to make extra sure that the game meets the high expectations of fans. A post on the official Ubisoft blog makes this statement alongside the delay announcement, though it unfortunately didn’t set a new date for the much-touted RPG sequel, beyond stating that it would arrive before the end of March. Considering the evidence, it’s unlikely that a major issue was found with the game, and Ubisoft may simply want a bit of extra time to smooth out small bugs and refine the gameplay, hence why they’re still making sure that South Park: The Fractured But Whole releases within their fiscal year, which ends on March 31st, 2017.
A follow-up to 2014’s big surprise hit RPG, South Park: The Stick of Truth, South Park: The Fractured But Whole substitutes the fantasy spoof theme of its predecessor with a superhero spoof theme. The game’s trailers have liberally taken shots at both superhero juggernauts, Marvel and DC, particularly at their respective shared universe movie franchises, and players are able to customize their characters with a variety of tongue-in-cheek super abilities, within a refined turn-based combat system. Ubisoft is also commemorating the game’s release with a PlayStation 4 and Xbox One remaster of South Park: The Stick of Truth, which is being awarded for free on the same platform to anyone who pre-orders the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One version of South Park: The Fractured But Whole ahead of release, whether digitally or at retail, and will otherwise be sold separately for a reduced price. Those who pre-order the PC version however will simply receive a free PC copy of South Park: The Stick of Truth, as it’s been offered since 2014.
Keep dressing up Eggplante for all major news and updates on South Park: The Fractured But Whole.