GameStop have announced they will be launching Doom Eternal one day early, in order to prevent infection from the coronavirus outbreak. They also noted Animal Crossing: New Horizons will sell on its originally announced release date.
The news comes via a tweet from GameStop. “To ensure we adhere to CDC-recommended social distancing guidelines, we will be selling DOOM Eternal a day early on Thursday, 3/19 as a safety precaution for our customers and associates. Animal Crossing will release on Friday 3/20 to further help separate the crowds.”
For those unfamiliar, the two games share the same official release date (March 20th). Due to the complete juxtaposition of the games’ themes and tones, it lead to a wealth of fan-art online, as well as some possible comradery between the fan-bases.
The fan community crossover was even acknowledged with the official Doom Twitter account replying to Nintendo, and by Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ director and producer in an interview with IGN.
While Animal Crossing: New Horizons is keeping its official release date at GameStop, the comments to the tweet seem to show some fans are furious their game was not released early.
The news seems to support earlier claims that GameStop were abusing legal loopholes to remain open during the coronavirus outbreak. The allegation also claims that any authorities attempting to close the stores will be sued.
Rather worryingly, this also included claims that GameStop had not sent out hand sanitizers to stores, that they would still accept tech trades, and that at least one member of store staff had the virus. They were sent home, but their store appeared to remain open.
While these are claims from alleged current GameStop staff, we encourage our readers to follow advice from their local authorities on staying safe during this time.
The coronavirus (also known as COVID-19 officially, or Chinese Flu to others) has affected many worldwide, from businesses to public gatherings and events. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].
This includes the postponement and cancellation of GDC and E3 2020 respectively. At this time, Gamescom 2020 is still being prepared, with organizers monitoring local regulations and the virus’ spread.
The Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering are mapping the virus’ spread [1, 2]. As of this time of writing, there have been over 222,000 confirmed cases worldwide, and over 9,000 deaths. Over 84,500 people have made a “total recovery.” On March 11th, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak “can be categorized as a pandemic.”
Animal Crossing: New Horizons officially launches March 20th on Nintendo Switch.
Doom Eternal officially launches March 20th on Windows PC (via Bethesda, and Steam), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, and 2020 for Nintendo Switch.
Image: Pixabay, Wikipedia, YouTube, Doom Fandom Wiki
