It appears that Gravity Rush 2 won't be getting a holiday release after all. In an announcement on the PlayStation Blog, Sony announced the highly anticipated sequel has been pushed back from December to early next year, game director Keiichiro Toyama citing a change in landscape as the reason for the delay.
The original Gravity Rush debuted on the PlayStation Vita in 2012 and with its unique gameplay, art style and narrative, the game easily worked its way into the hearts of the PlayStation community. A sequel for the game has been in the works since 2013, when it was known as "Team Gravity Project," and was officially unveiled as Gravity Rush 2. It was supposed to come on Dec. 2, 2016, but now it looks like we'll have to wait just a bit longer for the game to arrive.
Here's an excerpt of the announcement as seen on the PlayStation Blog:
"In July, we announced a release date for Gravity Rush 2 that we felt most appropriate for the title. Since then, though production is proceeding smoothly, the landscape for that release date has changed dramatically."
"Gravity Rush 2 is the conclusion of Kat's journey, so we want players to have enough time to dive deep into her story. In addition, as a lot of work went into online features that allow for asynchronous player interaction, we want as many people as possible playing the title at the same time."
Toyama didn't really elaborate on what he meant when he said a "change in landscape," but it most likely has to do with other games that will be coming around the same time. A holiday release would have put it in competition with other high-profile games such as Final Fantasy 15, Dead Rising 4 and Pokémon Sun/Moon.
In either case, with the delay confirmed, instead of the aforementioned Dec. 2 release date, Gravity Rush 2 will arrive on Jan. 20, 2017. Fortunately, Toyama and the development team are making it up to miffed fans by making the previously announced premium DLC available for free.
"I would like to apologize to all those players anxiously awaiting Gravity Rush 2," continued Toyama. "After four years of development making a title we are very proud of, we want to release it at the very best time."
Even though it will only be pushed back by a little over a month, this does mean that Gravity Rush 2 has become the latest Sony game to get delayed this year. Other titles that have received similar treatment are Horizon: Zero Dawn, which was pushed back to next March; Gran Turismo Sport, which a still-undetermined date in 2017; and The Last Guardian, which has been pushed back to December of this year.
