The Metro Exodus release date was always a mystery, and now it has even deepened. Though the game was expected to come sometime this year, the exact release date was never known. Now, there is more bad news for the fans of this post apocalyptic title from THQ Nordic. According to the developer, the Metro Exodus release date for the PS4, Xbox One and PC has now been postponed to the first-quarter of 2019.
“We are all looking forward to Deep Silver’s next key release, Metro Exodus, now expected in Q1 2019,” said THQ Nordic in a statement.
Explaining the reason behind the delay, 4A Games (the franchise creator) and publisher Deep Silver, in a joint statement, said the game is “progressing well” and that they are “really excited by what we are seeing.” Further, they said that they want the game to be “at its absolute best” when it releases to the public, so they have decided to move the Metro Exodus release date to next year.
“We want everyone to be able to experience what is the most ambitious Metro game to date at its absolute best and therefore we have taken the decision to move the release date to Q1 2019,” Deep Silver said in a statement. THQ Nordic acquired Deep Silver (a division of Koch Media) earlier this year.
A delay in the Metro Exodus release date shouldn’t come as a surprise. Since the game’s official release last year, there haven’t been many words on the progress of the game. There were expectations that THQ Nordic would reveal more details at the E3 this year, but given the delay, it is probably out of the question now.
Metro Exodus was first showcased at E3 last year. At the time, the Metro Exodus release date was announced to be sometime in 2018. The game is the next one in the popular apocalyptic series which is based on the novels by Russian author, Dmitry Glukhovsky. The Metro Exodus follows Metro 2033 and the follow-up, Last Light.
Metro Exodus involves players taking control of Artyom, a resistance fighter in a world decimated by nuclear fallout. According to Deep Silver, it will be a “sandbox survival experience” with large, non-linear levels in a story that spans an entire year. The trailer released at last year’s E3 showed Artyom falling into a tunnel filled with skeletons, and then coming out to fight a mutated rat beast.
Another trailer released during The Video Game Awards in December 2017, showed more mutated creatures and uncongenial environments. Like the previous Metro games, the Metro Exodus can also be expected to become popular among the gamers, especially, considering the trailers showed last year. Hopefully, to keep up the excitement around the game, the developer would share timely details of the game’s development.
Meanwhile, other games from THQ Nordic like Biomutant and Darksiders 3, are still expected to come this year itself as the developer hasn’t mentioned otherwise. It, however, did say that both the games are “still under evaluation for setting a release date.”
Amid all this disappointing news, Deep Silver also gave fans a reason to cheer. “We would also like to take this opportunity to confirm that at E3 in June we will be revealing some brand new gameplay from a never before seen game environment for you to enjoy,” the publisher said.
It must be noted that last month, THQ Nordic announced that it would be skipping the E3 this year to focus on the World Cup, which starts on June 14 in Russia. The developer will reveal its lineup at Gamescom in Cologne (August 21-25) and PAX West in Seattle (September 1-4).
THQ Nordic revealed the delay in the Metro Exodus release date while announcing the earnings report for the first-quarter of 2018. Thanks to the acquisition of Koch Media, the parent company reported a 673% jump in revenue. Revenue for the quarter came in at $72 million, while earnings were $12.2 million, a jump of 236% compared to the same period last year.
Excluding the contribution from Koch Media, net sales for the parent company was up 64% while earnings were up 54%. “Koch Media is by far our largest acquisition to date and confirms our focus on creating value for our shareholders,” said founder and CEO Lars Wingefors.
Earlier this year, the company released Kingdom Come Deliverance via Deep Silver. Wingefors confirmed that the label will also be publishing Wasteland 3 and Bard’s Tale IV.
