We’ve been playing quite a bit of the Insurgency: Sandstorm beta, leading up to its planned released on September 18, 2018, and while we enjoy its uniquely realistic gameplay mechanics and PvP and co-op modes, it doesn’t run well.
It really doesn’t run well. Even on our high-end rigs, we’ve had to put most settings to ‘low’ and the community has been noting the same on Reddit and on Steam discussions. Thankfully, developer New World Interactive and publisher Focus Home Interactive feel the same about the obvious issues and have just officially announced that Insurgency: Sandstorm has been delayed until December 12, 2018 as they continue to work on improvements and updates.
Related: This Insurgency: Sandstorm Gameplay Trailer Looks Really Impressive
The console versions of the game had already been delayed until the first half of 2019 but we find that launch window unlikely as well. There’s just too much lack of optimization, bugginess, and lack of polish on the general gameplay. It’ll get there in time and when it does, we have high hopes for the Insurgency sequel. If it had released this month however, Insurgency: Sandstorm would have been torn up in reviews and lost a significant portion of its potential player base simply because it wasn’t ready.
Insurgency: Sandstorm is Essentially An Early Access Game
Despite the delay, Insurgency: Sandstorm will continue to be playable in its “beta” status. Anyone who pre-orders on Steam (a 10% discount is included) can access the game until it releases in full, and anyone who owns the original Insurgency (it’s totally worth playing so get it if you don’t have it) gets an additional 10% off until March of next year.
“This was one of the hardest decisions our team has ever had to make and not one taken lightly. However, we feel it is in the best interest of the game and our community to spend more time working to ensure we deliver the best possible experience.”
At US$26.99 for a pre-order, with an extra potential %10 off, Sandstorm is a great deal but there’s no way around it – it’s an early access game. Call it what you will, what matters is that this one is at least a good early access title unlike many of the shooters and battle royale releasing in terribly rushed states with limited offerings (looking at you Fear the Wolves, Islands of Nyne, and Fractured Lands) and dying off before ever getting close to completion.
![Insurgency: Sandstorm Delayed Until End of the Year](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Insurgency-Sandstorm-Screenshot.jpg)
“Despite the game’s improvement, we are acutely aware that not all of you are having the ideal experience we want to deliver. By extending the beta and moving our launch date to December, the additional time will allow us to make significant improvements to the game with continued input from you. The additional time allows us to target a lower minimum system requirement, address more bugs, work on overall polish, gather additional feedback from the community to refine gameplay, and ensure that highly requested community features which may otherwise have had to be added post launch (such as community servers and custom games) are ready for day 1.”
The full message to the community can be read here.