‘Crackdown 3’ Reportedly Delayed Until 2019

By Stefanie Fogel

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Microsoft’s upcoming action-adventure game “Crackdown 3” won’t be released this year. It’s been pushed back to 2019, according to two anonymous sources who spoke with Kotaku .

This is not the first delay for “Crackdown 3.” It was originally scheduled to launch exclusively on in November of 2017, but was pushed back to spring 2018. At the time, Studios Publishing general manager Shannon Loftis said the delay was meant to give developers the time needed to “ensure a quality experience.”

“‘Crackdown 3’ is an incredibly ambitious project that pushes the technological envelope with immersive true 4K gameplay, cloud-computing competitive multiplayer, and a sprawling and futuristic open world,” Loftis said. “The team has been working extremely hard to deliver a great experience for fans and this extra time will help us do just that.”

Now, it appears the developers still need more time, which doesn’t bode well for the Xbox One’s first-party lineup for the remainder of 2018. Microsoft has recently struggled to get exclusives onto the console. It launched online pirate game “Sea of Thieves” in March and survival game “State of Decay 2” in May, but several other projects fell through, including “Scalebound,” “Fable Legends,” and “Phantom Dust.”

Microsoft sold about 30 million Xbox One consoles in 2017, according to Electronic Arts chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen. Sony sold over 73 million PlayStation 4s during the same period. Microsoft, who said it’s no longer releasing official sales numbers , told Variety that EA’s numbers are inaccurate, but declined to reveal how far off they are. A lack of exclusives is likely hurting the Xbox One. Hopefully, Microsoft will have some new titles to announce this Sunday during its E3 press conference.