Private Division have announced a delay in The Outer Worlds coming to Nintendo Switch, on account of the coronavirus.
The publisher announced the following via Twitter:
“We’re delaying @OuterWorlds on Nintendo Switch due to the coronavirus impacting the Virtuos team working on the port, to provide them enough time to finish development. We’ll now be releasing the physical version on cartridge. Once we have a new launch date, we’ll let you know!
To clarify, the team at Virtuos is ok, but their office has remained closed during this time. We’re working with the team to determine an updated development timeline, and will share more regarding a new launch date shortly.”
Founded in 2004, Virtuos aims to aid in game development, porting, and creating art assets for video games. According to their website, the company has it’s largest studio in Shanghai, China (also the founding studio for the company), along with offices in Chengdu, Xian, Tokyo (Japan), and Saigon (Vietnam). The studio also has offices in North America and Europe.
As of this time of writing, the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering map of the virus’ spread cites that there have been 30,877 cases in mainland China. This includes 267 cases in Shanghai, 344 cases in Sichuan (the province which Chengdu is the capital of), and 173 cases in Shaanxi (the province which Xian is the capital of).
Within Shanghai there was one death, and 25 fully recovered. Within Sichuan there was one death, and 37 recovered. Finally, within Shaanaxi there were zero deaths, and 9 recovered.
As aforementioned, while the game was initially planned to launch digitally only (and the game case only having a download code), the game will now be available on cartridge. Whether a physical release was originally planned later, or the delay has given time for the publisher and developer to re-asses some matters is unknown.
No new release date was announced at this time, but we will keep you informed as we learn more.
In other news, the coronavirus outbreak has caused Google to close their offices in mainland China, and the cancellations of Overwatch and League of Legends tournaments in the region.
The Outer Worlds is now available for Windows PC (via Steam), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and is coming soon to Nintendo Switch. In case you missed it, you can find our thorough review for the game here.
