Remake of cult cel-shaded shooter XIII delayed into next year
"To reach the level of polish we're aiming for".
Developer PlayMagic's remake of cult cel-shaded first-person shooter XIII will no longer release in November as initially announced, and is now expected to arrive next year.
An XIII remake was unveiled in April, much to the surprise of pretty much everyone old enough to have played the much-loved 2003 original first time around. However, despite publisher Microïds initial goal of a November launch, it's now confirmed a delay into 2020, stating that, while "thrilled" with PlayMagic's work so far, "additional development time is needed to reach the level of polish we're aiming for."
XIII, for those unfamiliar, was originally developed for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and PC by Ubisoft Paris. As in the celebrated Belgian graphic novel series that inspired it, XIII charts the somewhat bullet-peppered adventures of its titular amnesiac hero, who finds his life rapidly beginning to unravel after waking on Brighton Beach and discovering that he's been accused of assassinating the President of the United States.
Ubisoft Paris' shooter, which Eurogamer called a "flawed masterpiece" in its 8/10 review in 2003, quickly found a loyal following thanks to its striking cel-shaded art-style and taut gunplay.
As part of its XIII remake announcement earlier this year, Microids said that it intended to "bring XIII's compelling story to a new generation of players with the best possible graphics and animation." Rather ballsily, it also promised that the end result would be "nothing short of spectacular". We'll know if it achieved those ambitions when PlayMagic's remake arrives on PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC some time in 2020.