MechWarrior 5 Delayed Until 2019

courtesy of mw5mercs.com

courtesy of mw5mercs.com

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries has been delayed until 2019.

The news comes straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, with Piranha Games President Russ Bullock making the announcement on his Twitter page.

The move to delay seems to acknowledge the responsibility PGI feels in bringing the “the first single player experience MechWarrior title released since 2002″ to a competitive market. Delaying until 2019 will allow them to deliver the best single-player MechWarrior experience to date” and ensure MechWarrior 5 lives up to the high standards set by modern ‘Mech games.

As much as many a salty MechWarrior Online fan might see this as an indication that their previous online-only ‘Mech game is finally fizzling out, this is probably not the case. MechWarrior Online doesn’t publish it’s player counts, but Steam Charts has given the average number of Steam players at around 2,000 for years now, with undoubtedly thousands more simply playing directly via the MWO Portal.

What is far more likely is PGI’s understanding that a single-player game like MechWarrior 5 will need to be done right in order to capture the imagination of not just MechWarrior fans but also sci-fi sim-shooter fans in general. They’ve got their eyes set on a much larger prize than just the BattleTech faithful, and more power to them.

I got a very brief taste of MW5 at Mech_Con last year and it was… rough. Granted, it was a pre-alpha build that had been running on the same rig for most of the day, but it definitely suffered from lost frames and performance issues. It was also just a brief rampage through an enemy base without anything along the lines of an actual plot.

You can bet that story, level design, and all the trappings of a real single-player game are going to become a renewed focus for the developers with the extra time they’ve just given themselves.

courtesy of mw5mercs.com

courtesy of mw5mercs.com

Bullock confirmed in a response to a follower’s tweet that the delay has absolutely nothing to do with the ongoing legal issues between PGI and the despicable Harmony Gold. I might be reading a little between the lines (or letters, in this case), but my bet is this is all strictly so that the developers can make a better game.

Most of the responses on Twitter were positive, appreciating the move for quality over a rush-job. To be frank, I’m of the same mind here. Nothing annoys me more than a game I’ve waited to play for years only to find it delivered as a heaping pile of digital manure. That’s what PGI is afraid of, and rightly so.

We’ll get a better idea of when MechWarrior 5 will release at this year’s Mech_Con.

And as always, MechWarriors: Stay Syrupy.

stay syrupy

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About Sean

Hooked on BattleTech at an early age, Sean honestly can't remember whether it was the cartoon, the serial novels or the short-lived TCG that did him in. Whatever it was, his passion for giant shooty robots never died, so now he writes about the latest and greatest in 'Mech related news.

11 thoughts on “MechWarrior 5 Delayed Until 2019

  1. Mike Henry

    This is not a surprise, considering that PGI didn’t know until a few days ago if they would be allowed to use BTs most iconic designs. Even if Russ says that the lawsuit had no effect on this decision, I can’t help but feel that the spectre of something so potentially disrupting hanging over head had some impact on the overall development of MW5.

    Reply
  2. Troy Garcia

    TBH, i kind of like MechWarrior Online’s current gameplay style… if MW5 is gonna be similar, then I will (hopefully, if I can get my PC updated on or before release date) grab it… just no BS quirks and just have the only customizable things be the weapons and paint jobs on a mech… I want most of my clan mechs to be dragging same weight IS ones through the ground please, thank you very much

    Reply
    1. Adama

      MW5 takes place during the usurper war, aka long fucking time before the clans, nearly 300 to be exact.

      Reply
        1. Robert Block

          The take away being that Clan forces were active in IS space for many years before the Invasion proper.

          Reply
  3. Billy Bob

    Good…I hope it comes out on console like they originally planned…I dislike MWO so this might mean going back to at least designs similar to the older demo which I liked more..

    Reply
  4. Mike Snyder

    We waited this long for a mech 5 game, if the game needs to be tweeted then I am fine with the 2019 release

    Reply
  5. Morgan Davion

    Cannot wait , if making it better means a bit more of a wait then so be it, I do like mwo and the feel but , I would hope it has a way to fly the innersphere take any jobs and fight awesome missions like the freedom of battletech in fist person lol

    Reply

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