Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition Delayed Following Technical Issues

The remastered Blade Runner adventure game was previously scheduled to release later this year, but with "later this year" quickly coming, developer Nightdive Studios isn't ready to launch the game. In fact, it has run into technical issues that have delayed it to an unspecified future date.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Nightdive CEO Steven Kick blamed the delay on problems related to "old technology" and said the studio has not been able to locate the original source code or assets for the game. The source code was apparently lost decades ago after original studio Westwood was purchased by EA, and Nightdive has the more difficult task of reverse-engineering code in order to get Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition remastered.

To get the game running on all platforms, Nightdive is using its own engine and with code work apparently nearing completion, most efforts are on visual updates now. Kick added in the interview that the frame rate will likely be lowered to 30 FPS with a film grain placed over it in order to better achieve a cinematic style. Given the neo-noir nature of the original movie, this makes sense.

While Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition is still in the works, it could be a very long time, if ever, before we see another film. 2017's Blade Runner 2049 was critically acclaimed but failed to break even at the box office. That hasn't slowed down director Denis Villeneuve, who is currently working on Dune.