Probably for the best
MachineGames and Bethesda have delayed the cross-generational Wolfenstein: The New Order, it was revealed today. “Working on next-gen and current gen definitely has an impact, you’re developing for two different things,” VP of PR and marketing Pete Hines told Polygon. “The fact that the next-gen stuff is still moving is also definitely a factor.”
He explains that the game is “trying to be a shooter that also has driving elements, story elements, narrative, stealth sections — each one of those has to be excellent. It’s not just like we’re making a shooter, where if the shooting is good, then all 16 hours of the game will be good because it’s all we’re doing.”
You’ve got to respect Hines’ willingness to be candid about development. “MachineGames has been working on this game for a while,” he continued. “You don’t want to waste all that time and effort for the sake of a couple of months, if a couple of months could make all of the difference in the world. This needs to be the best Wolfenstein game ever made, and you can’t shortcut that. It can’t have the same historical impact of Wolfenstein 3D, but it can be a better game.”
From the brief amount of time I’ve spent with The New Order, I had a similar reaction to Hamza, who wasn’t feeling especially enthusiastic about this one. Knowing that and the reasons provided here by Bethesda, it’s probably for the best that we happily wait until next year.
