Microsoft Admits Announcing Crackdown 3 Early was a Mistake

Since Crackdown 3 was announced at E3 2014, the release date has been pushed back a couple of times. The game finally re-appeared at Microsoft’s E3 conference this past June, along with the expectation that it would launch alongside the upcoming console, Xbox One X on November 7th. Well, even that’s not the case anymore, as Crackdown 3 has been pushed back to Spring 2018.

It’s not, by any means, unusual. Games are delayed all the time, and it’s easy not to take notice after a while. With Crackdown 3, though, it might be difficult not to raise an eyebrow. We’ve heard little-to-nothing about this game since its announcement over three years ago, and when it finally had its moment at Microsoft’s E3 2017 showcase, the preview was short-lived and nearly forgotten in the wake of other upcoming titles like Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Anthem, and State of Decay. Forget the mild disappointment fans may feel at another Crackdown 3 delayed release- the Xbox One X just lost its anticipated launch title.

In the wake of all this, Xbox executive Shannon Loftis spoke to Polygon at Gamescom 2017 saying, “I think we probably announced Crackdown too early.”  While the decision was a difficult one for the company, Loftis explained, “We definitely underestimated the challenge of making sure the quality bar of all three of those modes was high and it delivers on what we need to deliver on.”

Waiting for Crackdown 3 until 2018 is much bigger than it being a simple game delay. The new release date continues to highlight the struggle Xbox has had with its exclusives this generation. From projects that have been cancelled, to those that released to fairly positives reviews but were still ultimately underwhelming (looking at you ReCore), it seemed like a good way to re-build momentum within the community was with the release of Xbox One X. That may be a little difficult now without any launch titles.

Let us know what you think about this delay in the comments. Keep up to date with all Crackdown 3 news here at LoadingXP!

Tori Morrow

Tori is originally from Rapture but now she lives in Chicago. She enjoys open world RPGs, a good narrative-driven game, and is probably the only person still watching The Walking Dead.