In a move that will surprise absolutely no one, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End has been delayed to Spring 2016 due to the game being a much large task than originally considered.
Naughty Dog directors Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann put out a release on the PlayStation Blog saying that it has “become clear to us that this game is much more ambitious than we originally envisioned.”
By delaying the game, it gives the developers some more time to “make certain that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End not only meets the team’s high standards, but the high standards that gamers have come to expect from a Naughty Dog title”, the pair said.
Understanding that “the extra wait will be excruciating,” the developer says the extra time will be worth it, as they want to make sure “that Nathan Drake’s story gets the closure it deserves.”
This could be the first confirmation that the Nathan Drake storyline is in fact ending with Uncharted 4, though that doesn’t mean the series will not continue on in some form afterwards.
Uncharted 4 will be the first game in the series to not be released during the holiday season. This delay could be a very good thing, however, with Rise of the Tomb Raider, Halo 5: Guardians, and Star Wars: Battlefront, among many other triple-A titles due for release during the October through December run up to the holiday season.
We still expect to see A Thief’s End at E3 2015 in just a few short months, and we’ll of course report back with our impressions on gameplay and the trailers they show off for the title at that time.