Give us
acluesecond half of 2018. Hopes were
high when a series of cinematic
trailers showcasing the four playable
characters were released. Then,
a seemingly solid release date of
6 November, for all platforms, was
revealed at E3. But only two months
later the announcement came that
the console version was delayed until
6 February. Which then takes us to
thecurrent delay.
Poor reception of the PC version,which gained a fair amount of
negative reviews and has a current
Metacritic rating of 52, may be a
contributing factor in the decision to
delay the console version. Most of the
criticisms were aimed at its gameplay
and technical issues. As a result the
game suffered from disappointing
sales, forcing the publisher to begin
a cost-saving initiative, where the
Stockholm-based company applied
for and was approved ‘reconstruction’
(which is the equivalent of bankruptcy
in Sweden). Part of this reconstructionwas to seek the sale of non-core
parts of the business, and it saw
the replacement of then CEO Bo
Andersson, who stepped down from
the company, with deputy CEO Mikael
Nermark taking over.Dead in the water
Like many, OXM was excited for the
release of OTWD on Xbox One.
We’ve reported on it extensively
and walked away with a positive
impression after our hands-on time
with the game at E3 2018, but given
the history of development and the
recent announcement, a release
any time soon, if at all, is looking
increasingly unlikely.
Despite the apparent struggles,
however, the publisher is still on
schedule to release both of the highly
anticipated indie titles, Psychonauts 2
and the remake ofSystem Shock 2. QDead before
arrival?
Overkill’s The Walking Dead is delayed
once agai this time indefinitely
CORPSE
BLIMEYIt was announced
last month by
Starbreeze
Entertainment that
first-person co-op
survival horror
gameOverkill’s
The Walking Dead, based on Robert
Kirkman’sThe Walking Deadfranchise,
has had its release, originally
planned for this month, delayed.
The statement on the Starbreeze
website explains that the company is
“currently evaluating and reviewing
the performance of the gameOverkill’s
The Walking Deadon consoles,”
and goes on to say, “Starbreeze has
decided to postpone the release date
from its original February 2019 date.
Further information regarding the
future release will be announced at
a later date.”
The news of this delay, however,
may come as no surprise to some.
Since its announcement back in
2014 OTWD has seen a series of
delays. The game was initially slated
for a 2016 release, but in January
of that year it was delayed until the
second half of 2017. The cause of
this delay was attributed to the $
million investment from Korean game
company Smilegate and subsequent
agreement to release Overkill’s The
Walking Dead simultaneously in both
Western and Asian markets. It was
then announced in May 2017 that
the game was going to be delayed
yet again for over a year, into the
Most of the trailers for
OTWD were littered
with little Easter
eggs; the first could
be found in the trailer
for the character
Aiden. A blurry image
on a bus stop
contained a phone
number. Calling the
number took you to
an answering
machine from the
fictitious Getaway
airline. Fans
discovered that by
inputting the code of
0451 after the beep
you could listen to
messages left by
characters from the
game’s universe.INSIDER OVERKILL’S THE WALKING DEAD
“We walked
away with
a positive
impression of
the ame at E3”
ABOVE The PC
version of the
game doesn’t
have a high
rating on
Metacritic.
RIGHTSeems you
might have to
satisfy your
zombie-killing
urges elsewhere.EXCITED? HORRIFIED? LET THE WORLD KNOW AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/OXMUK
018 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE