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The Witcher 3 Delayed Again

Release date pushed back to May 19, studio confirms.

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The Witcher 3 release date has been delayed again, seven months after its developer promised the title's deadlines would not be pushed back any further.

Poland-based developer, CD Projekt Red, has set the game's new launch date for May 19 next year.

High ambitions for the next-gen title were cited as key reasons for the delay.

"The sheer size and complexity of The Witcher, key features of the title, have had a decisive impact on production. Now, nearing the end of our work, we see many details that need to be corrected," the studio wrote in a prepared statement.

CD Projekt Red's announcement marks the second such delay for the Witcher 3 project. In March, studio co-founder Marcin Iwinski assured that there would be no further setbacks.

"This is not our first game; we are not newbies," he said at the time. "It's not like 'hey we are delaying and we'll keep on delaying'.

In October, CD Projekt Red responded to rumours that the studio was entering crunch to finish the game on time, and that its public demonstrations were overly flattering.

"If you have any doubts about Wild Hunt’s quality, have a look at the 35-minute gameplay video we published some time ago, or check out gamers' reactions to our public previews at Gamescom, San Diego Comic Con, and E3 (it's all public and available on the studio’s YouTube channel), and decide for yourself."

The open letter to fans can be found below.

Dear Gamers, May 19th, 2015.

Ever since we started working on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, we knew it would be an ambitious game. We wanted, and still aim, to give you an incredible experience, an epic adventure in a vast, completely open fantasy universe.

The sheer size and complexity of The Witcher, key features of the title, have had a decisive impact on production. Now, nearing the end of our work, we see many details that need to be corrected. When we release the most important game in our studio’s history, we must be absolutely sure that we did everything we could to limit any bugs to a level that will allow you to enjoy the game thoroughly.

With this in mind, we took another look at current workloads and what they mean for the team. Even though everyone is working at full speed, we concluded that we need another 12 weeks, so we are shifting the release date of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to

We owe you an apology. We set the release date too hastily. It’s a hard lesson, one to take to heart for the future. We know what we want to do to make Wild Hunt one of the best RPGs you will ever play. And we continue to work hard to achieve just that. So, we apologize and ask for your trust.

Thank you for the all support you show us on a daily basis. We truly do appreciate it. It has fueled us in our passion since the start and will continue to do so.

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