Today, both Microsoft and Sony released statements regarding the impact coronavirus has had on the development of exclusive Xbox and PlayStation games. Unfortunately, both statements are a bit vague, but it sounds the coronavirus hasn’t impacted any game to the point that a delay will be needed, at least not yet. Of the two companies, Sony had less to share about the topic, probably because it came up during an investors call. According to Sony, no serious issues have emerged so far as a result of the virus, however, it’s currently monitoring the risk of delays in production, suggesting it thinks this could change in the future.
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“Although no issues have emerged so far, Sony is carefully monitoring the risk of delays in production schedules for game software titles at both its first-party studios and partner studios, primarily in Europe and the US,” said Sony.
Meanwhile, Microsoft noted that the health and safety of its Xbox Game Studios development teams is currently the top priority. And because of the situation, each team is facing unique challenges and constraints, however for now, there’s no delays to report on.
“We know that gaming connects people during times of social distancing, and we are committed to delivering the highest quality Xbox Game Studios games for our global community of players,” said Microsoft. “At the same time, the health and safety of our XGS development teams is our top priority. Each studio is facing unique challenges and constraints depending on its particular location, and many of our external development partners around the world are similarly affected. We are supporting our studio leaders to make the right decisions for their teams and their individual games during this challenging time.”
On top of issuing this statement, Microsoft also confirmed to our sister site GameSpot that Halo Infinite is on schedule to release this holiday season as an Xbox Series X launch game. This confirmation comes only a couple days after 343 Industries detailed the impact coronavirus has had on the game’s development.
Both Microsoft and PlayStation have also confirmed that plans for the Xbox Series X and PS5 to release later this year are still on.
