The post-holiday months of January and February have normally been two of the calendar's quietest months in terms of game releases.
And while Saints Row, a reboot of a beloved open-world series in the vein of Grand Theft Auto, hasn't been delayed (yet), a month it normally would have had to itself suddenly has that game rubbing shoulders with a cadre of gaming's coolest kids. Delayed more times than anyone can count at this point, Dying Light 2, the sequel to 2015′s surprise action-horror hit about smacking zombies with (frequently electrified) garbage, is slated for a Feb. So was The Witch Queen, the latest and possibly biggest expansion to Destiny 2. Horizon, a PlayStation tentpole, was delayed out of the end of 2021 earlier this year. It now joins a teetering buffet tray of other high-profile releases in the same month: Horizon Forbidden West, Saints Row and Destiny 2: The Witch Queen chief among them.
In late October, Elden Ring - the unexpected love child of two mediums' fantasy kings in Dark Souls director Hidetaka Miyazaki and Game of Thrones author George R.R. The video game holiday release bonanza is a time-honored tradition, but alterations to working conditions and supply chain issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic seem to be changing that in 2021, at least temporarily.