Only people who have worked on video games really understand how video game development works. As such, it is hard to criticize any studio when a game is delayed. It is better to give developers as much time as people to make a good game than to play a broken and buggy product.
All the games listed below were set to come out last year before being pushed back into 2022. Some still don't have definitive release dates. Even the ones that do always run the risk of being pushed back. The COVID pandemic has also been singled out as a reason for many delays going as far back as 2020.
10 Dying Light 2
The first Dying Light is a spiritual successor to Dead Island and puts an increased focus on movement. Dying Light 2 was announced years ago and is finally coming out on February 4th after suffering numerous delays.
The final delay moved it from December 2021, to its current scheduled day. In addition to gameplay improvements, player choice in the story is said to have a greater impact on the narrative.
9 Vampire: The Masquerade-Bloodlines 2
This tabletop RPG already had one cult classic video game. The long-awaited sequel looks to build upon what people loved about the first game, only hopefully without all the technical issues for which it was infamous.
It was scheduled to come out in 2020 before receiving numerous pushbacks. Now it is scheduled to come out in 2022, but the developer has not announced an exact date. There is also a battle royale in the works using the same IP.
8 Gran Turismo 7
It would not be a PlayStation console without at least one Gran Turismo game on it. Gran Turismo 7 was supposed to come out in 2021, but COVID made those plans impossible to realize. Now, it is scheduled to come out on March 7th of this year.
Gran Turismo is admittedly not a racing game for everyone, but there are enough fans of simulation racers to make this one of the most popular racing franchises ever.
7 Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto V is so popular, it only makes sense to keep re-releasing it instead of announcing Grand Theft Auto VI. The next-generation version promised to come out in November 2021, though now it is aiming for a March release date.
With no concrete day in place, fans should not be surprised if it sees another delay in the coming weeks. Whenever it comes out, it needs some serious improvements to justify spending more money on it. It will be the third time purchasing it for some.
6 Gotham Knights
There are two big DC games on the horizon, Gotham Knights and The Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The former takes place in a different continuity as the Arkham games and was promised to come out in 2021 before a delay was announced.
As of now, it is hard to tell which of the two will come out first. They both have co-op gameplay, though they seem to differ in tone.
5 Resident Evil Re:Verse
Re:Verse is the multiplayer component to Resident Evil Village. It is supposed to be free for those who bought Village. At this point, it is starting to feel like it might not come out at all. There was a beta and impressions were not super positive.
The last multiplayer mode for a Resident Evil game was Resistance, which failed to make a big splash. Most fans would probably prefer a cooperative component like the Raid from Revelations 2.
4 Cyberpunk 2077 And The Witcher 3 Next-Generation Versions
Cyberpunk 2077 was such a mess when it came out, it can hardly be said a complete version came out. The console versions were especially buggy and borderline unplayable.
A next-generation version of the 2020 game and The Witcher 3 were scheduled to come out in 2021 but CD Projekt Red delayed these into an unspecified date in 2022. Seeing as how its biggest problem is releasing games before all the bugs have been fixed, these delays are perhaps a smart move.
3 Scorn
Scorn had been in development since 2014 and even two Kickstarter campaigns before it became a Microsoft exclusive. The aesthetic takes obvious influence from HR GIger, who designed the famous Xenomorph from Alien.
Glimpses of gameplay and the trailers showcase a terrifying atmosphere that will certainly get scarier when players are exploring it with a controller in their hands. A 2021 release was pushed back to the last quarter of 2022.
2 Sifu
Developer Sloclap released Absolver in 2017. Its upcoming game is Sifu, which eliminates the multiplayer aspect but still focuses on visceral and complex melee combat.
The twist is each time the player fails, the character revives but is aged. The game was announced to come out at the end of 2021. Sloclap pushed it back to iron out bugs and finish development in a healthy fashion. Sifu is scheduled to come out on February 8th.
1 Horizon Forbidden West
Horizon Zero Dawn is considered one of the best open-world games of the last generation. Fans are eagerly anticipating the sequel, Forbidden West. Guerrilla Games aimed for a late 2021 release with the caveat that it might not make it.
Turns out, they needed a little more time to finish it up. The sequel comes out on February 18th, just a few days after Valentine's Day on both PS4 and PS5.