Metal Slug Tactics Hit with A Crushing Delay
Metal Slug Tactics is an upcoming strategy game based on the beloved 2D side-scrolling game. However, the anticipated title has now been delayed.
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“Another One Bites the Dust” is more than just an ’80s music hit; it’s a theme song for the last two years of gaming which was plagued by delays and cancelations, mostly induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and financially based business decisions. Unfortunately, Metal Slug Tactics, slated for this year’s release window, just joined the list of delayed titles, which means that players will have to wait a little longer before diving into the cartoony side-scroller.
According to IGN, Dotemu and Leikir Studio won’t release Metal Slug Tactics this year, and the cartoony XCOM-like game will release sometime in 2023. A more precise release window wasn’t specified, and the company gave the fandom a vague reason behind the delay, stating that the game still requires final polishing before its release is ready. This has become one of the most common reasons behind various delays that have been plaguing the producing side of the gaming industry, which is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Metal Slug Tactics, which was originally announced last year for PC, soon had its Nintendo Switch announcement, both of which are now delayed. The game follows the story of the player-controlled crew of characters — Marco, Eri, Fio, and Tarma — on their quest to take down the series antagonist, Donald Morden of the Rebel Army, and prevent him from staging an all-out war. Sounds just like any other strategy game.
However, Leikir Studio said that the game, once released, will also contain roguelike gaming elements, though we can’t specifically say how those elements will be implemented and to which extent. This would be a novelty in the quarter-of-a-century-old gaming series, which was first released in 1996, and has had a total of seven mainline entries, along with a couple of remakes and spin-offs — the most recent of which is Metal Slug Tactics.
Metal Slug Tactics’ publisher, Dotemu, gained a lot of traction in recent years for publishing critically acclaimed retro revivals, such as Wonder Boy or recently released mega-hit Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle: Shredder’s Revenge. On top of those releases, Dotemu is also responsible for several high-quality handheld ports of prominent releases, such as Another World or Ys Origins and numerous other notable classics.
Metal Slug Tactics, unfortunately, isn’t the only game that has been pushed back into the following year, and the list is too long to count. More notable releases that have been delayed are Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Bethesda’s massive hitters Redfall and Starfield, both of which were pushed into 2023. Square Enix postponed Forspoken, and the highly anticipated remakes of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic were both postponed indefinitely.
The pandemic landed a massive hit on the producing side of the gaming industry, and the production of nearly all prominent gaming titles was affected in some way, leading to massive delays. On the other hand, the pandemic also introduced an unprecedented growth of the gaming culture, thanks to the imposed lockdowns, the overall accessibility of handhelds, such as Nintendo Switch, and PC gaming. As for Metal Slug Tactics, the game has been postponed to 2023, and we’ll announce the precise release date once the information becomes accessible.
