At the PlayStation 5 reveal event presentation back in June, Sony showed off slew of new titles for the next-gen console, from big names like Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales or Horizon Forbidden West to indie titles like Bugsnax or Goodbye Volcano High. One of these titles that especially stood out was the whimsical Kena: Bridge Of Spirits. Not only does it look super fun to battle it out against bad guys using Kena’s staff (which can morph into different weapons), the game also apparently runs very well on the PlayStation 5 – Game Informer reports that launching the game fresh takes just two seconds.
Yesterday, developer Ember Lab took to Twitter to update fans on the status of the game’s development. “The Ember Lab Team is overwhelmed and humbled by the positive response and outpouring of support for Kena: Bridge of Spirits,” tweeted the studio. “Your kind words and excitement for the game have been an inspiration to the team.”
The coronavirus pandemic has proven a difficult situation for numerous developers and companies as they’re forced into less than ideal working situations, and it seems Ember Lab has faced their fair share of issues. “This year has brought many challenges and our transition to working from home has caused development to move slower than we hoped,” they continued. “For this reason, we have made the difficult decision to delay the release of Kena: Bridge of Spirits to Q1, 2021.”
Bridge of Spirits was originally slated for a release in late 2020 on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC, and the delay means that the PS5 will be losing a key exclusive when it launches. Ember Lab still seems optimistic about the game’s future, though – a heartening sight for fans.
“We will use this time to give the game the polish it deserves and deliver an experience that meets our vision and your expectations,” concluded Ember Lab. “We look forward to sharing more about Kena in the coming months and delivering an amazing experience early next year.”