History ScheduleSlip / VideoGames

* The in-development ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'' project began in Spring 2014. In an interview in January 2015, the developer stated he hoped to have a full playable beta ready by Summer, but as of Fall 2015 the game is still a pre-alpha sandbox, only ~10% complete. Although the developer generally keeps to his self-imposed schedule of releasing updates on the 1st and 15th of each month (though he's missed that deadline a couple of times), the game itself is taking much longer to complete than anyone expected. This is largely due to the developer being the sole programmer, as well as his decision to incorporate fans' ideas which massively increased the game's complexity and development time. As of 2020, the developer is ''still'' to fully implement the first official rival... out of 10.

* Indie developer Scott Cawthon inverts this trope, as each and every sequel he's made in the ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' series has released sooner than any posted release date. In particular, ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys4'' was teased with a Halloween 2015 release date. Eventually the announced date was changed to August 2015. The game actually released on July 23, 2015. In fact, when FNAF World was announced, Scott said it was "Coming 2016 (Seriously.)" You know things got out of hand when he has to ''vow'' not to release a game before it's official release date.

* Initially, ''VideoGame/LegoStarWars: The Skywalker Saga'' was slated to release on October 20, 2020, as mentioned on the official ''Franchise/StarWars'' Website/YouTube channel in a video uploaded on May 7 of that year. Later that day, the video was made private and a new video with the release date cut out was uploaded. Then on August 26, the release year was mentioned as 2021 on Lego’s website (before also being updated to remove the release year). The next day at the 2020 Gamescom Opening Night Live, a Spring 2021 release window was mentioned (along with ports to the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S). For unknown reasons, the game was postponed ''again'' on April 2, 2021, with nothing stated since.

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* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' kept slipping throughout [[SignificantReleaseDate 2020]], from April, to September, to November, to be finally ChristmasRushed despite the PortingDisaster of [=PS4=] and Xbox One versions.

* ''VideoGame/StarCitizen'' was announced for a November 2014 release but has had the date pushed back to early 2015. As of December 31, 2015, Wiki/TheOtherWiki lists it as "To be announced 2016".

** Averted with the release of FiveNightsAtFreddysSisterLocation, which was given a release date of October 7, 2016 and actually did get released on that day. It didn't stop Scott from attempting to throw fans off with not one, but two hoaxes about the game's fate leading up to its eventual release, however.[[note]]The first was a teaser image insinuating that the game was "cancelled due to leaks", the second was Scott claiming parts of the game were too dark and disturbing, and that he was considering editing those parts, therefore delaying the game.[[/note]]

* The in-development ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'' project began in Spring 2014. In an interview in January 2015, the developer stated he hoped to have a full playable beta ready by Summer, but as of Fall 2015 the game is still a pre-alpha sandbox, only ~10% complete. Although the developer generally keeps to his self-imposed schedule of releasing updates on the 1st and 15th of each month (though he's missed that deadline a couple of times), the game itself is taking much longer to complete than anyone expected. This is largely due to the developer being the sole programmer, as well as his decision to incorporate fans' ideas which massively increased the game's complexity and development time.

** The [[UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 PC Engine]] port of the game is a very well documented disaster: Things started fine when first announced in August 1989 as a Hu-Card game, then upgraded to a [=SuperGrafx=] exclusive title in December. By 1991 and due to the console's declining sales, it was downgraded to a bi-compatible [=SuperGrafx=]/PC Engine title. Then development went silent until early 1993, when it was now being developed for the PC Engine Super CD-ROM
System exclusively. Late 1993 brought another format change when it became Arcade Card compatible and announced a release date of March 1994. Then it was delayed for April. No, May. Then July. Maybe August? Finally September became the magic month it finally released. The game's producer, infamous in Japan for getting games delayed in this fashion, eventually shaved his head publicly as apology over this. ''Twice''.

* ''VideoGame/Anthem2019'' First, it was originally announced for a Fall 2018 release date, which was then pushed back several times to Holiday 2018, and then to Spring 2019. When the game finally did come out, it was an ObviousBeta, owing to an incredibly TroubledProduction. The game did have a Roadmap of planned future content, but ''Creator/BioWare'' repeatedly missed the release dates for the content on the Roadmap. The Cataclysm, which was originally supposed to release in May, was pushed back repeatedly until August. In September of 2019, ''Creator/BioWare'' announced that they were abandoning the Roadmap of planned content and would instead be delivering seasonal updates while they work on fixing and improving the core game.

* ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' is a decade-long example due to DevelopmentHell and {{Vaporware}}; it was "coming soon" for 14 years before finally being released in June 2011 (after suffering one last one month delay, a fact the developers readily lampshaded). It took transferring property of the game from 3DRealms to Gearbox to make it happen. Was it worth the wait? [[InternetBackdraft You know it wasn't.]]

** Even fan games aren't immune to this. ''VideoGame/BlackMesa'', the fan remake of ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' on the Source engine, released a trailer claiming the game would be released in 2009. This claim stood until early 2010 when they stopped giving any estimates on a release date until around when it was finally released in late 2012. The September 2012 released wasn't even the entire game. The last four chapters (the Xen section) have yet to be completed, five years onward.

'''Actual''': [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Coincident with the]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapture Rapture]] (no, not [[VideoGame/BioShock that one]])

* ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' is a decade-long example due to DevelopmentHell and {{Vaporware}}; it was "coming soon" for 14 years before finally being released in June 2011 (after suffering one last one month delay, a fact the developers readily lampshaded). It took transferring property of the game from 3DRealms to Gearbox to make it happen. Was it worth the wait? [[HypeBacklash You know]] [[InternetBackdraft it wasn't.]]

* ''VideoGame/XRebirth'' was initially announced for a fourth quarter 2011 release, but was delayed until late 2013. The devs and beta testers were barred from talking freely about it thanks to non-disclosure agreements imposed by the publisher, meaning some fans were half-convinced it had become {{vaporware}} based on the lack of information. CBJ, the one dev who visits the forum on a regular basis, consistently denied this to be the case. HypeBacklash is starting to set in, especially when one ill-advised poster [[GodwinsLaw compared the news blackout to a Nazi regime]]. [[SarcasmMode Yeah, the moderators loved that...]] (Factor in that ''Egosoft is based in Germany''.) Oh, and since ''Rebirth'' will be Steam-exclusive, other people were also joking that Egosoft is running on Valve time. The game's nigh-unplayable ObviousBeta state at release showed that the schedule slip wasn't enough, [[ExecutiveMeddling possibly as a result of publisher deadlines]].

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'' was announced in 2006 and set for a 2007 release. But because they already had one third-party character in the game ([[VideoGame/MetalGear Solid Snake]]), and fans demanded another third-party character to be added (Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog), the game had to be delayed until Feb. 2008. Then when February was near, the game was delayed until March because they wanted to work out some bugs in the online system (although the online was still very buggy even in the finished product), and so the game finally saw a release in March.

** ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U''. The 3DS counterpart was going to be released in summer 2014, but was released in October instead.

* ''VideoGame/XRebirth'' was initially announced for a fourth quarter 2011 release, but was delayed until late 2013. The devs and beta testers were barred from talking freely about it thanks to non-disclosure agreements imposed by the publisher, meaning some fans were half-convinced it had become {{vaporware}} based on the lack of information. CBJ, the one dev who visits the forum on a regular basis, consistently denied this to be the case. HypeBacklash is starting to set in, especially when one ill-advised poster [[GodwinsLaw compared the news blackout to a Nazi regime]]. [[SarcasmMode Yeah, the moderators loved that...]] (Factor in that ''[[DudeNotFunny Egosoft is based in Germany]]''.) Oh, and since ''Rebirth'' will be Steam-exclusive, other people were also joking that Egosoft is running on Valve time. The game's nigh-unplayable ObviousBeta state at release showed that the schedule slip wasn't enough, [[ExecutiveMeddling possibly as a result of publisher deadlines]].

** ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' and ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' are both celebrations of Sonic's 25th anniversary, but the first detail announced about either of them is that they were going to be released in Sonic's 26th year. It was earlier averted with their [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 15th anniversary game]], which was ChristmasRushed and had a lot of problems as a result. ''Sonic Mania'' would subsequently be pushed back from its initial release window in spring of 2017 to that summer.

** Due to the (relatively) long time between the release of ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' and the Mod API for said game, and the fact that the hold up seems to be due to problems with incorporating Steamworks support, its become a minor meme to say that Bethesda is running on Valve Time.

* Krin, the guy responsible for the ''VideoGame/{{Sonny}}'' games, has no definite release date for ''Sonny 3''. Members on the Armor Games forums frequently speculate when ''Sonny 3'' will come out. For a time, people actually thought the guy was dead.

* WorkingDesigns was notorious for this. Creator/ADVFilms delayed the Arc the Lad anime to come out the same time as the game. In fact, due to a combination of the usual schedule troubles and legal battles, Manga/MagicKnightRayearth earned the dubious distinction of being the last game released for the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn (outside of Japan, anyway).

** ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' also went through several delays too. It was initially announced in 2010 as a launch title for the Nintendo3DS, but when the 3DS's launch neared, it was delayed until August of that year. August came around, and the game was delayed until November or December. Then it was delayed until early 2012, which was when it was finally released.

* ''VideoGame/StarCitizen'' was announced for a November 2014 release but has had the date pushed back to early 2015. As of December 31, 2015, TheOtherWiki lists it as "To be announced 2016".

* WorkingDesigns was notorious for this. Creator/ADVFilms delayed the Arc the Lad anime to come out the same time as the game; at that point they had already been late so often that the GenreSavvy could have predicted that wouldn't work. In fact, due to a combination of the usual schedule troubles and legal battles, Manga/MagicKnightRayearth earned the dubious distinction of being the last game released for the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn (outside of Japan, anyway).

** Meanwhile, the long-promised 1.13 patch for ''Diablo II'' took ''two years'' to come out after its previous patch, finally dropping in 2010. Then again, it's impressive that Blizzard continued to patch a game that was, at that point, nine years old.
** After a 12-year wait, ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIWingsOfLiberty'' was released, only to have ''one'' of the three races (Terran) come with a Single Player campaign. In order to play Zerg 1P, you will have to purchase a full-blown MissionPackSequel called ''[[VideoGame/StarCraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm Heart of the Swarm]]'', which, was still in development two years after ; open beta was announced (not started, announced) in August 2012 and it finally released in March 2013. ''Legacy of the Void'', the Toss campaign, took another two years until its release in November 2015. By contrast, ''Brood War'', a "mere" ExpansionPack, came out the same year as the original ''Starcraft'' with all three races given fully playable single player campaigns, just like in the original. (On the other hand, while ''Videogame/StarCraft'' gave you three races with 10 missions each, ''Wings of Liberty'' shipped with a Terran campaign 26 missions all on its own.)

** The ''[[Webcomic/TeamFortress2 Team Fortress Comics]]'' series is a particularly bad case of "Valve Time". While the seven-issue story arc was originally intended to be bi-monthly, [[EpicFail only six issues have been released since August 2013]]. Valve themselves have [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] this, first questioning the term "bi-monthly" and then joking that the comic would be annual instead. Additional lampshading was provided by the cover of issue #2, which bears the legend "70 LATE PAGES!"
** Averted with ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2''. Valv e intentionally released the game on a fixed schedule (literally a year after the first game was released) to prove they can release on time. Fans to this day still argue whether or not this was a good thing, due to several issues the game brought up.

** Even fan games aren't immune to this. ''VideoGame/BlackMesa'', the fan remake of ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' on the Source engine, released a trailer claiming the game would be released in 2009. This claim stood until early 2010 when they stopped giving any estimates on a release date until around when it was finally released in late 2012. The September 2012 released wasn't even the entire game. The last four chapters (the Xen section) have yet to be completed.

* ''VideoGame/{{Daikatana}}'': In 1997, an ad is released that promises that "John Romero's about to make you his bitch". At E3 1997, a Christmas release is promised and missed. Christmas 1998 was promised and missed. Eventually, Romero claims that ''"Come hell or high water, the game will be done on February 15, 1999."'' Well, it wasn't. (It finally was in April 14, 2000.)
* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' was announced in 2006 and set for a 2007 release. But because they already had one third-party character in the game ([[Franchise/MetalGear Snake]]), and fans demanded another third-party character to be added (Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog), the game had to be delayed until Feb. 2008. Then when February was near, the game was delayed until March because they wanted to work out some bugs in the online system (although the online was still very buggy even in the finished product), and so the game finally saw a release in March.

* ''VideoGame/RaymanLegends'' was announced in early 2012 as a WiiU launch title. Later in the year, when the [=WiiU=] was nearing launch, it was delayed until February 2013, because the game still wasn't finished yet. Then when February neared, the game was delayed until September, to coincide with the multiplatform release (a decision made because of ''VideoGame/{{ZombiU}}'''s sales not meeting expectations), even though the Wii U version was already 100% complete and ready to ship.

* ''[[Videogame/{{Scribblenauts}} Scribblenauts Unlimited]]'''s European release was stated for February 2013. While the PC version was released that month, the WiiU/3DS versions were pushed to March, then April, then May, then September and finally were set in a Nintendo Direct for December 2013.

* ''VideoGame/TheLastGuardian'' was announced in 2007 or 2008, and still, practically no information has been given on it. Sony Computer Entertainment confirmed as of early 2013 that it is "still in development", and is finally set to release in December 2016, nine years after announcement.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' was initially announced in 2013 with a a Winter 2014 release date. The end of 2014 approached and a year-long delay was announced - considering the substantial lack of information Atlus had been giving on the game, it wasn't much of a surprise (it was only after the delay the first gameplay trailers even started appearing). What ''was'' a surprise was the second delay, pushing the game back from late 2015 to September 2016. The game landed on track in Japan, but the English worldwide release date that was set for February 2017 ended up being delayed five more weeks into early April. As compensation for the delay, the Japanese voice track was added as an option, which is a rarity for Atlus games. Time will tell if this is the last of the delays.