Originally planned to be Sony’s crown jewel in its PlayStation 4 holiday lineup, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End sees series protagonist, Nathan Drake, back in action – albeit a little older and semi-retired from his past fortune hunter days.
sees series protagonist, Nathan Drake, back in action – albeit a little older and semi-retired from his past fortune hunter days. Unfortunately for him, he’s forced back into his old lifestyle when his older brother Sam shows up at his doorasking for help. Naughty Dog is planning to make this Nathan’s greatest adventure yet, with a story that sets out to really test his limits and resolve.
Fans were disappointed to find out earlier this year thatwouldn’t be making its scheduled release in 2015, as Naughty Dog confirmed a big delay which pushed the game into 2016. While Naughty Dog has recently confirmed that the game is locked in on a March 18, 2016 release, fans were never given a solid reason as to what prompted the sudden delay. Until now.
Typically, game delays are caused by a number of issues ranging from bugs, polish, or overhauling a mechanic. In this case however, it was something else entirely. In the latest issue of Official PlayStation Magazine, Uncharted 4 director, Neil Druckmann, spoke a bit more about the delay into 2016 and that it was ultimately caused by a desire to really nail the ending. Without giving away any big moments, Druckmann does tease something big which required a lot of effort from the development team. Not wanting to reduce the scope or ambition on the project, the team opted to delay the game.
“Even when I’m describing the ending, it’s a pretty… Well, I guess this is a little bit of a spoil… Nah, I’m not going to say it! But there is something that happens that requires quite a bit of work for what we want it to do, and again we would have had to reduce that scope and reduce that ambition to meet that [original] deadline”.
Considering that Uncharted 4 is poised to be Nathan Drake’s last game as the featured lead character, Naughty Dog required more time to make sure that the ending not only met and exceeded fan expectation but Naughty Dog’s vision as well. While the decision proved to be difficult, the developer opted to push the game back in order to give these characters a fitting goodbye.
“We were weighing those choices between fans and their expectations. It was going to disappoint them to push this thing back, but this is the last chapter for Nathan Drake, so let’s give ourselves as much time as possible and go all-out for this series.”
Even though fans won’t be able to get their hands on the full Uncharted 4 experience this year, they will still be able to get a small taste in December when the multiplayer beta kicks off. To gain access, fans will need to pick up a copy ofand make sure to have an active PlayStation Plus membership. The beta is set to start on December 4 and run until December 13, though no additional details regarding maps, characters, or game modes have yet been revealed.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End launches on March 18, 2016 for the PlayStation 4.
Source: Official PlayStation Magazine(via GamesRadar)