It’s been a few months since Crimson Dragon was delayed, with no new release date revealed. No doubt some of you are feeling a bit anxious about the game’s fate. Has it been delayed so that it can be launched at a time that Microsoft feels is more appropriate? Or cancelled entirely? Let’s hope that the latter possibility is not the case. I think that a complete cancelation is unlikely given how close the game was to completion.
One possibility is that the game has been delayed so that it can be released as a launch title for the next Xbox and Kinect 2. A leaked document suggests that the new Xbox will launch bundled with the a new iteration of Kinect in 2013. It is rumoured that the new Kinect will allow players to play while sitting down which could be beneficial to gamers playing for long periods of time. I know I’ve plugged multiple consecutive hours in the Panzer Dragoon games. Also, if Kinect 2 offers better response time, this would likely improve the shooter gameplay of Crimson Dragon.
Another possibility is that Crimson Dragon will also be released on Windows 8 PCs and Microsoft delayed the game so that Grounding could work on a Windows version for a simultaneous 360/PC release. Xbox Live’s Major Nelson recently revealed a list of games that were coming out on Windows 8 and some of these, such as Kinectimals Unleashed, were designed around Kinect. Although Crimson Dragon is not included in the list, the chances of a Windows 8 version seem good as Microsoft will be wanting to give people more reasons to adopt their new operating system. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer previously revealed that Kinect would be supported on Windows.
A further possibility is that Grounding are spending this extra time to add controller support to Crimson Dragon. Many of you have expressed a desire to be able to play the game using a traditional gamepad, however I have my doubts about this option being made available. With Crimson Dragon being designed to promote the Kinect to core gamers it would be a sign of defeat if they included that option, as nice as controller support might be. We shall see. As time goes on, the reason for Crimson Dragon’s delay becomes more mysterious and troubling. Lets hope that some light is shed on what’s happening with the project soon.