Days Gone UK release date rumours and news: Days Gone release date delayed

Days Gone has had its release date postponed again, which is rather fitting given its name (you’re welcome we didn’t add a pun to the title of the article).

In a statement Asad Qizilbash, Sony marketing vice president, said the date had been pushed back from its initial 22 February release date to avoid the “crowded February time frame”. Several other games were due to be released in February, including Crackdown 3 and Anthem on the exact same day.

Instead, the game will release on 26 April, which will give the team over two months to “further polish Days Gone”. No other major games have been announced for an April 2019 release date, meaning the game should see no competiton.

Fans of the game shouldn’t be very disappointed, as the game’s release date has been crawling backwards ever since the game was revealed at E3 2016.

Recently, the game had been explored in a gameplay hands-on at E3 2018, in which a 13-minute gameplay session gave us a close-up look at Days Gone‘s open world, and how the emergent gameplay aspects came to the fore during exploration and survival.

Days Gone is rather open-ended in what you want to do and how you want to do it, but things escalate quite quickly, showing you just how intense the game’s horde mentality is.

You can watch the entire demo below.

Days Gone release date: When’s it coming out?

When Days Gone was showcased at E3 2016 there was a lack of details about its release window, leading to murmurs about whether SIE Bend Studio’s would land in 2017 or 2018…or even later.

In April we found out that Days Gone, SIE Bend Studios’ tale of post-apocalyptic survival in rural America, was delayed until 2019. Then, just ahead of E3 2018, Sony announced a final release date of 22 February 2019. Months later the game was delayed again, and is now slated for a 26 April 2019 release.

Before its initial 2019 delay, Days Gone didn’t have a concrete release date so to say things had been delayed may be a little misleading. However, we now know that it’s set for a 2019 release and the surprise of pushing it back to next year doesn’t appear to be down to development issues. Speaking on ResetEra, Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad – who is familiar with SIE Bend – explained that the team is “ahead of milestones in relation to the release date.” Since the game was pushed back, that was clearly not the case.

Days Gone trailers: What does it look like?

At E3 2017 we got a better look at how Days Gone plays, including the inclusion of reactive events in day and night cycles.

The seven-minute clip shows that there’s going to be a fair share of exploration and stealth, with a variety of grim methods for doling out death. As well as stabbing and strangling leather-clad ne’er-do-wells, it looks like protagonist Deacon St. John will be able to herd zombies as walking, biting weapons. There’s also the obligatory detective-mode vision, and variety of animal baddies – including a bear that looks like it’s walked through a barbed-wire fence. Oh Yogi, you clown.

 

To show how things change in Days Gone, SIE Bend also released an alternate playthrough of the same E3 demo. This time it’s winter and partly at night, and a number of things play out differently. Throughout the game, you’ll need to switch up tactics dependent on the weather and time of day.

This day and night divergence in gameplay isn’t new (Assassin’s Creed Origins, to cite a recent example, uses it well), but it looks like weather and light conditions with add variety to Days Gone’s action.

Days Gone story: What’s it all about?

So far we know very little about what Days Gone is actually about. In Bend Studio’s open-world tale of survival, you play as Deacon St John, a drifter and former bounty hunter who’s drawn to the dangers of a life on the road rather than settling down at a secure encampment. It’s not clear why St John is out on the road, nor what his aim is, but we do know that wherever he goes, the perils of a horde of “Freakers” (the name for Days Gone’s zombie-like enemies) is ever present.

It’s also unclear what caused the pandemic that resulted in humans turning into Freakers, but presumably, it will be explained during the game’s story.

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Days Gone gameplay: What can you do?

Days Gone takes place in an open-world environment, allowing you to tackle a situation any way you please. Gameplay elements also change up depending on if it’s day or night when you’re exploring. During the day, Freakers are far weaker and less likely to travel in huge packs; in the evening, however, hordes will be more frequent and a lot more dangerous.

We’re not talking about small hordes here either: Days Gone deals with truly staggering numbers of onscreen enemies. The swarms shown off at E3 2016 depicted hundreds of Freakers swarming St John, fumbling over one another to chow down on some biker brains. It appears these swarms surround buildings and encampments, too, opening up the potential for some incredibly interesting, almost puzzle-like thinking to escape certain situations.

Since it’s an open-world title, there’s going to be vehicles too. It’s likely that Freakers will be drawn to the noise of passing cars and bikes, so be careful when driving anywhere – especially at night.