Back at E3, we checked out some early gameplay footage of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, which was supposed to keep fans entertained (along with other trailers) until the game’s release date of February 23, 2016. However, the wait is now considerably longer, as the game is delayed by six months with a new release date of August 23, 2016.
According to David Anfossi, the head of the development team at Eidos-Montreal, the reason for the delay is in the game’s post-production phase. Anfossi said the team will need more time for “tuning, iterations, and refinement to meet our high standards.” Anfossi added that the team wanted to not only meet the expectation of the game being a worthy sequel to Deus Ex: Human Revolution, but to exceed those expectations.
There’s no doubt that fans will be disappointed about the long delay, but it’s not the first time this game frustrated its fanbase. Its pre-order promotion, called “Augment Your Pre-Order,” was supposed to encourage people to reserve their copy of the game in advance with multiple tier rewards, based on the number of people who pre-ordered it. However, there wasn’t enough progress past the first reward, and the promotion was eventually canceled after about a month.
The delay to August also means that we’ll probably see more of the game at trade shows next year — most notably, E3. Various footage between now and release day should show more progress in development, especially in the areas that Anfossi mentioned were the reason for the delay.
