Star Fox Zero delayed, now coming out in Q1 2016

Announced back at E3, during the Nintendo Digital Event, Star Fox Zero was supposed to come out in November 20th in Europe and North America. Unfortunately, Fox McCloud’s big comeback in a mainline entry will not be happening this year anymore, as Shigeru Miyamoto himself announced that the game was delayed to 2016.

Shigeru Miyamoto explains that technically, the game is at a stage where it could be launched this year, but that he prefered to delay it in order to polish it as much as possible. To be more precise, it’s the two-screens gameplay, the level design, and the tone of the cutscenes which require more work, according to him.

At least, the delay for Star Fox Zero is nothing compared to the one for the new The Legend of Zelda game for Wii U, which hasn’t been mentioned even once since Eiji Aonuma announced its delay earlier this year. The game will now launch in Q1 2016 in Europe and North America, and this Spring in Japan.

Here is the message of Shigeru Miyamoto, in full:

I made a big decision last week.

 

We have been developing Star Fox Zero for Wii U with the aim of releasing it this year. Although we felt that the development had been progressing well, we now believe that we will need a little more time to work on areas such as the unprecedented discovery that we want players to experience in the game by using two screens, and further polishing the level designs and perfecting the tone of the cut scenes. While we have already reached the stage where it would be technically possible to release the title in time for the year-end holiday season, we want to polish the game a bit more so that players will be able to more smoothly grasp the new style of play that we are proposing.

 

To the people looking forward to the launch of the game this holiday season, I am very sorry.

 

Star Fox Zero is going to bring new game play and experiences that take it far beyond the framework established by Star Fox 64. All the members of the development team are doing our best so that the final product will not betray your expectations. And the game will not be delayed for a very long time – we’re aiming to launch the game in Q1 2016. Please stay tuned for further announcements.

Star Fox Zero (Wii U) will come out in Q1 2016 in Europe and North America, and this Spring in Japan.

Source: Nintendo