The Challenge for Microsoft Developers Was Bigger Than Anticipated
Obviously, the news that Crackdown 3 would be delayed yet again hit Xbox One owners like a stake in the back. The general manager of Microsoft’s Global Publishing, Shannon Loftis, admits that announcing the game back at E3 2014 may have been premature.
Loftis provided the initial explanation behind Crackdown 3′s delay, in conjunction with news that it will arrive next year. At this week’s Gamescom, Polygon managed to reach her and obtain a few extra comments. Turns out, a major problem with the game’s development is that Microsoft underestimated the workload.
“I think we probably announced Crackdown too early,” Loftis told Polygon. She talked about Crackdown 3‘s three game modes, the need to drive quality in all of them. We have to remember that the game is utilizing innovative cloud-based technology. Hence, we have the collaboration of three studios: Reagent Games, Sumo Digital and Cloudgine.
“We definitely underestimated the challenge of making sure the quality bar of all three of those modes was high and it delivers on what we need to deliver on,” she added. “So we had to take the extra time, [and] make sure that we’re delivering the game the Crackdown fans want. It was a super hard decision to do that, and it was made harder because we announced the game.”
Loftis’s comments echo what Phil Spencer said about Scalebound back in June. According to him, Scalebound was also announced too early and led to hype the company felt the game couldn’t live up to. But Crackdown 3 is still on its way and Microsoft is eager to deliver game-changing multiplayer. Time will show us the result of all their work.
If you were looking forward to Crackdown 3, let us know where you stand. Did news of the delay upset you or do you think Microsoft offered fair justification?