Koei Tecmo's upcoming Fairy Tail game is struggling with the COVID-19 crisis perhaps more than most games. Originally planned for March, Fairy Tail was delayed until June in February. But the impact of COVID-19 has been relentless, so Koei Tecmo has now had to delay Fairy Tail once more. The new release date is July 31.
In a message written to fans of Fairy Tail, Koei Tecmo explains that "the development team is working extremely hard through an unprecedented time." COVID-19 is explicitly stated to be the cause of the delay. Koei Tecmo says it and the developers at Gust Studios are appreciative of everybody's patience as Fairy Tail's development wraps up.
For the time being, Fairy Tail retail copies remain pre-orderable through Amazon and other online retailers. Digital copies, like via Steam, do not have pre-orders open yet. Considering the frequent delays, it's likely for the best that digital pre-orders and pre-purchases haven't been activated by Koei Tecmo yet.
Fairy Tail is an action RPG wherein players take on the role of one of their favorite characters from the manga. So far, 16 different playable characters have been confirmed, including mainstays like Natsu and Lucy as well as others including Mirajane Strauss and Gildarts Clive. It's unclear if more playable characters will be added later.
Fairy Tail releases July 31 on PC, PS4, and Switch.