Xbox Game Studios ‘facing unique challenges and constraints’

Xbox has issued a statement regarding the impact the coronavirus pandemic is having on its first-party game development.

According to Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty, who oversees all first-party games output for the platform holder, each of the company’s in-house development teams is facing its own individual challenges.

While Booty didn’t go into specifics in a statement issued to GameSpot, many companies are currently adjusting to homeworking introduced in a bid to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

Microsoft-owned Mojang said this month that the Minecraft Dungeons release date could be delayed past April 2020 after the studio began working remotely.

And 343 Industries said that while Halo Infinite development is “tracking well”, it needs “to be mindful of our current limitations and understand that the coronavirus situation may get worse before it gets better”.

Booty said: “We know that gaming connects people during times of social distancing, and we are committed to delivering the highest quality Xbox Game Studios games for our global community of players.

“At the same time, the health and safety of our XGS development teams is our top priority. Each studio is facing unique challenges and constraints depending on its particular location, and many of our external development partners around the world are similarly affected.

“We are supporting our studio leaders to make the right decisions for their teams and their individual games during this challenging time.”

Sony said on Friday that it’s “carefully monitoring the risk of delays” to first and third-party PlayStation games due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus.

A spokesperson also said the company still expects to launch PlayStation 5 during the 2020 holiday season, when Microsoft also plans to release Xbox Series X.