Kickstarter darling Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night has been delayed.
The game, one pitched as the spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, is now on course for launch in the “first half of 2018,” when the metroidvania title will touch down for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation Vita, PC, and Wii U.
Addressing the delay, creator Koji Igarashi offered a candid status report about development thus far:
“Things have been progressing with development for Bloodstained. But between our current production setup and release deadline I’ve realized that at this rate the game may not end up meeting my quality standards.”
In order to bring Bloodstained closer in line with internal expectations, Igarashi-san went on to reveal that a second development team has now been brought aboard.
“I’ve decided to add a new development team to the main production and improve our approach so that we can keep the game fully on track for how I envision it. We’re in the process of securing these new developers. We will share more information with all of you soon.
“I apologize for the wait. However, I’d like to emphasize that I made this decision to absolutely guarantee the game is done right the first time … The last thing I want to do is keep our backers waiting, but after receiving such incredible support, I feel responsible for delivering the best product I possibly can. Again, I offer my sincerest apologies.”
Earlier this year, developer Inti Creates pumped out an early demo for those who pledged $60 or higher during the initial crowdfunding campaign. We understand that it’ll be available for around three months.
Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night will make its hotly-anticipated debut in the early stages of 2018. Deep Silver is handling publishing duties and, following a surge of funding that fired the Kickstarter campaign past $3.5 million, Ritual of the Night will come to Vita.