Ubisoft first announced that it would revive the classic city-building strategy series The Settlers back in 2018. The company initially planned to release its new reboot during the fall of 2019, but it chose to delay the game until 2020 and then again until this year. With the game set to come out on March 17, and the recent launching of the closed beta, it seemed that everything had finally gone according to plan. Unfortunately, it looks like Ubisoft did not receive the kind of feedback it had hoped for during the closed beta, as the company chose to delay The Settlers for a third time.
The developers shared news of the delay on the Twitter account for The Settlers. In an official statement, the developers noted that the closed beta served as “a great opportunity” for players to offer critical feedback on the quality of the game, and they made sure to thank the players who did. After reading this feedback, though, the developers concluded that the game’s current state did not represent “the team’s vision.” Much like after the second delay, the developers did not specify when players can expect to see the final product, only saying that it will arrive at “a later date.”
A necessary delay
The statement continued by saying the developers will take advantage of this delay to make the necessary improvements and to put quality first. Additionally, they ensured that they will provide players with updates on their progress once they are ready to.
The fact that Ubisoft decided to delay The Settlers indefinitely shortly before the game’s release does not bode well for the game’s current quality. Hopefully, the developers can substantially improve on what they have built so far. It is worth noting, however, that reports of workplace harassment at Ubisoft continue to surface, so it’s not at all certain that the extended development time will go well for the people involved.
