Deathloop, the upcoming new IP from Arkane Studios, may just have had its release date leaked, if the recent listing on New Zealand PlayStation Store is any indication.
Deathloop is a first-person, action-adventure title, similar in the veins of the studio’s previous endeavors in the immersive sim genre such as Dishonored and Prey. While the game was announced back at Bethesda’s E3 2019 conference, the studio went eerily quiet for a long time before Deathloop had a surprising presence at this year’s PlayStation 5 gaming event.
Deathloop was scheduled earlier to release this holiday season, only to be delayed to the second half of 2021. While Bethesda hasn’t revealed a concrete release date for the game yet, the New Zealand PlayStation Store has listed Deathloop’s release for May 20, 2021. While placeholder dates are common, this seems suspiciously accurate, considering how the game is targeting the Q2 window that is between April 1 to June 30.
Deathloop will put players into the shoes of an Assassin named Colt. Just like the lavish city of Karnaca from Dishonored 2, Deathloop takes place in an intricately designed, colorful, northern island called Blackreef. Blackreef, which is inspired from 60’s pop culture is home to a never-ending party and Colt’s eight targets who he must kill before the clock strikes midnight. While this may sound fairly simple, it isn’t. Colt’s also being hunted by an assassin Julianna, who could be an AI-controlled character or a real player courtesy of the game’s one-of-a-kind multiplayer.
While Deathloop seems to be a promising new IP from the talented folks at Arkane, it has found itself in some precarious situation since it was revealed to be a PS5 console exclusive title. Since that announcement, things have drastically changed and Microsoft is moving ahead with its plan to acquire Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax Media by 2021. Even though it means that Deathloop will then be an Xbox first-party game, Xbox will honor this PS5 exclusivity deal. However, there’s no word on when the game will finally grace the Xbox family of consoles.
Irrespective of when that happens, Deathloop will be coming to Xbox Game Pass on day one, just like every other game published by Bethesda, and that includes the highly anticipated Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6. While immersive sims like Dishonored 2 and Prey generally received high reception from critics, they failed to perform commercially. Deathloop on other hand, while drawing inspiration from its forefathers, will have the advantage of being part of a game subscription service from day one, which will allow its family of 15 million to try the game without any constraint.
Deathloop is coming to PS5 and PC, some time in the second half of 2021.
Source: PlayStation Store(NZ)
