After assuring fans that the COVID-19 pandemic would not affect games releasing this year, Nintendo has reported that games may be delayed due to the impact of the coronavirus. While no delays have been announced as of yet, Nintendo is preparing for the possibility of having to delay its upcoming titles. The potential delays could be the reasons Nintendo has been so quiet about what games are planned for release this Holiday season.
In June of this year, Nintendo claimed that COVID-19 would not impact its release schedule for upcoming games. While it was reported that Nintendo was a little behind on production for some of its titles, Nintendo stated that the planned launch dates for the 2020 fiscal year had not been affected. This was supposedly due to careful countermeasures put in place by the company to combat the impact COVID-19 would have on development. However, this reassurance that title releases would stay on schedule was followed up by the warning that there could be significant delays if a second viral wave hit Japan.
According to Nintendo Everything, Nintendo recently published its annual report for 2020, in which the company states that restrictions on sales and product supplies could be cause for delays of game releases. The report reads, “Development schedules may be impacted due to the difference in development environment between working from home and in the office since teleworking is implemented at the Company and its partners. As a result, we may not be able to proceed with the release of Nintendo products and the start of services as planned.” This was followed up by Nintendo stating they will continue to conduct business operations while considering the health and safety of both its employee and consumers.
Only a month after stating no delays were to be expected, Nintendo is preparing for potential delays. This news should not come as a shock as the world has been dealing with a global pandemic for many months, and businesses across the globe have had to make adjustments to their plans for the fiscal year. It was more of a shock when Nintendo first announced they would not be expecting any delays than it is to hear delays could possibly happen. However, with as quiet as Nintendo has been about what is planned to be released this Holiday season, it begs the question of what games would even be delayed?
As of the time of publication, the largest announcement Nintendo has made that has a planned released date is Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia which is scheduled to be released on November 3, 2020. Various other first-party Nintendo IPs have been announced to release in 2020, but Bakugan is the only title to have an actual date. The potential delay could very well be the reason why Nintendo hasn’t announced any other release dates for games for this Holiday season. Hopefully, Nintendo won’t be impacted by COVID-19 to the point where delays must take place, but, currently, it’s hard to say what games they would even delay.
