Third Delay for Project Cars Across PC and Consoles

Project Cars has been delayed for a third time, publisher Namco Bandai has announced, moving its PC and console launch date back by another month.

The hyper-realistic racing sim is now expected to ship in "mid-May" on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Namco Bandai said the postponement was necessary to ensure that the final build matches fan expectations.

Developer Slightly Mad Studios originally scheduled to release Project Cars in November 2014, though a month before release that date was pushed to March 2015. Then, weeks ahead of its postponed launch, the game was pushed back again, this time to April.

Ian Bell, the developer who heads up Slightly Mad Studios, said the further delay was initiated because detecting all of the game's final bugs has proven to be a complex task.

“Despite our long heritage and pedigree in making critically-acclaimed racing games, Project CARS is by far the grandest and most intricately detailed of them all," he wrote in a prepared statement.

"Despite therefore the game being 99.9 percent complete, the remaining 0.1 percent attending to small issues and bugs has been tricky to anticipate. We’re absolutely dedicated to delivering a ground-breaking experience and by targeting mid-May fans can be assured that’s what they’ll receive.”

Bell thanked fans of the series for their patience, and also confirmed that the studio will release free content as compensation.

“Again, we want to thank our fans for their support and patience on this matter. There’s a high expectancy from racing fans around the world that Project CARS is going to be an exciting new contender in the simulation racing space and we firmly believe gamers deserve it to be in its most complete and polished state when they come to play it on day one.

"And since the gaming community is our primary focus and has always been at the heart of the project during development, we would like to offer some free content to all players as compensation for this short delay and as acknowledgement of how grateful we are. This gift, that we’re sure is going to excite fans, will be available from day one and revealed shortly. Keep an eye on our website for more info.”

Namco Bandai's delay announcement comes hours after Naughty Dog confirmed the Uncharted 4 delay on PlayStation 4, which moves the release date to "Spring 2016".

These postponements are the latest signs of the industry's challenges in moving their production schedules in sync with next generation technology. Previously delayed AAA games include Driveclub, Bloodborne, The Witcher 3, Watch Dogs, and Batman Arkham Knight.

Click through the thumbnails below to see the latest Project Cars images:

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