Crackdown 3’s delay has everything to do with the game’s campaign mode

For fans of the Crackdown franchise, it's been a long wait. The last official entry in the franchise came 6 years ago in July of 2010 and had gone predominantly dark for most of that time. Microsoft revealed that they were working on the next entry during E3 2014, but then there was darkness once again. At least until Gamescom 2015. Then during E3 2016, it was announced that the game would miss its 2016 release window, releasing instead in 2017.

Now we know the reason why.

In speaking with Game Informer, Microsoft Studios general manager Shannon Loftis said that the team was just starting to integrate the game's campaign now after focusing on Crackdown Online. She said:

"Development has been going incredibly well. I’ve actually been playing a ton of it,” she told me. “To be honest, because we obviously have this Crackdown Online mode and then we also have the traditional Crackdown campaign, which has multiplayer online. But we want to launch our online beta so that it’s not too far in advance of the complete campaign. It’s actually the campaign that we’re doubling down on now. We’ve got internal play sessions every week for Crackdown Online. We’re starting now to get the campaign in. Building these open world games is both challenging and a blast because you have to build all of the systems that interact together. Before you get to the point where you can actually experience what the game feels like and can start building your missions and telling your stories."

So why is Crackdown's campaign mode so important? Apparently, it has a lot to do with how the game reacts to the player's actions. Loftis added:

"So the Crackdown campaign is definitely the most fully featured campaign we’ve ever done. It’s basically running a sim on top of the traditional Crackdown environment. We created this thing called a ‘hate table.’ Depending on what you choose to destroy in the environment, there will be massive, big reactions all over the city. Gangs will get together against you. This is the first time we’ve ever had something like that. It’s just starting to come online. We have lots of time to put together our missions. I don’t like letting gamers down and asking them to wait, but I’m also kind of proud of giving developers the time they need."

To be fair, most fans nowadays generally react to delays in a positive way, so much so to the point that the phrase "take your time, I want the game to be perfect" has transformed into an internet cliche. Plus, it's not like the Xbox One is lacking in exclusive content anyhow with the budget priced Recore, Forza Horizon 3, Gears of War 4 and Dead Rising 4 all landing in the last quarter of 2016.

Source: [Game Informer]