The coronavirus has made things difficult for the video game industry. Developers and publishers such as Sony have seen a decrease in productivity due to both quarantines and the adaptations necessary to operate in them, such as working remotely from home. How quickly the PlayStation 5 sells out is a good example of this. Sony isn't able to create the amount of PlayStation 5's necessary to keep up with demand in-part because of its working conditions.
As a result, some people have wondered what this means for the many highly anticipated PlayStation 5 games releasing in 2021, such as Horizon: Forbidden West. News magazine GQ recently had the chance to ask PlayStation Boss Jim Ryan about upcoming games in a spontaneous 20-minute interview, and according to him, Sony feels very good about the release schedules for Horizon: Forbidden West, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and Returnal.
Ryan didn't say exactly why Sony has faith in its scheduled releases. However, he did say that if developers need more time to finish their games, Sony will give it to them — as proven by Returnal's delay. Ryan explained Sony's reasoning for delaying games by taking shots at Cyberpunk 2077 and CD Projekt Red. Apparently, Sony prefers to ship its games out because they're ready to hit shelves, and not because it wants to meet a release date.
All in all, if Sony's comfortable with Horizon: Forbidden West and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, that's probably good news for both games. Ratchet and Clank just received its release date, so it would be a shame if it suffered a delay. That said, it's likely the release took any delays into account considering how recently it was announced. As for Forbidden West, it is supposed to come out in the latter half of 2021, so a delay could potentially push it into the 2022 time frame.
Guerrilla Games recently shifted its focus from Zero Dawn's PC port to Horizon: Forbidden West, so the game's release date might crop up soon, especially if it's not expecting a delay. At the moment, the title doesn't have too many details to its name, so what fans can expect from it is more or less just speculation. Even if a release date is far off, it would be nice to know something about what it plans to do differently from its predecessor, and how it plans to evolve the more favored aspects of Zero Dawn.
Horizon: Forbidden West releases in 2021 for PS4 and PS5.
Source: GQ