The morning of Jan. 25, I wasn’t woken up by my alarm or the hustle and bustle of my family, but by a text from a good friend. The text read as follows, “Wow. <em>Mighty No. 9</em> has been delayed again...” What a great way to start a Monday morning, eh?
In all seriousness, Comcept sent out a mass email to all Kickstarter backers of <em>Mighty No. 9</em> Monday, Jan. 25, announcing its delay from early February until sometime this spring. This delay marks the third one the game has experienced, pushing back its release by a full year now.
As a backer of the project and a gamer clamouring for a <em>Mega Man</em>-style game to fill the void, <em>Mighty No. 9</em>’s delay is disappointing. But what is most concerning to me is Comcept’s total lack of communication and sense of urgency concerning their magnum opus’ third delay.
As stated in Comcept’s email, the reason for the delay stems from problems with getting the network code working — the same problematic network code that forced <em>Mighty No. 9 </em>to miss its September 2015 release date. The email goes into further detail about the particular network issues Comcept is dealing with, but the fact of the matter is why aren’t these problems fixed after five months of working on them?
Although I can understand that it was a mistake on the management side of things, there is a time and a place in development when you need to cut an unnecessary feature to make a deadline. In all honesty, network features in a platformer aren’t necessary. I’m not saying get rid of the feature altogether, it could be patched into the game at a later date. Right now, Comcept needs to deliver the game they promised — the spiritual successor to <em>Mega Man</em>.
What stings more is the timing of <em>Mighty No. 9</em>’s delay. In their infinite wisdom, Comcept decided to inform everyone of the delay a mere two weeks before its intended release. You would have thought the game had gone gold and been well into mass production by this time, but I guess not.
Delays are an annoying reality of game development, but delaying a game so close to its release feels like an intentional bait and switch. Considering how there had been no backer updates since October 2015, there is no way on God’s green earth that the developers at Comcept didn’t know about the possibility of a delay a good month in advance. To keep their loyal fans and customers in the dark for so long just adds to the frustration.
Comcept has certainly dug themselves into a hole with this third and, hopefully, final delay of <em>Mighty No. 9</em>. Email apologies and explanations aren’t enough to fix this debacle. Comcept has to show their commitment in delivering this game at all costs through continuous communication and documentation of progress with backers. To go silent now will only confirm my fear — that <em>Mighty No. 9 </em>may never see the light of day.
