Guilty Gear Strive has been delayed from its planned April 9 release to June 11, Arc System Works announced.
The latest entry in the long-running 2D fighting series Guilty Gear recently underwent open beta testing, and apparently some of the feedback prompted ArcSys to step back and re-evaluate certain elements of the game. Specifically, online lobbies are once again proving unpopular with the player base.
“Since we have received valuable feedback after the recent open beta testing, we would like to make the most of this opportunity to offer the best possible game,” the developers said in a Twitter post on Wednesday. “We need more time to polish some aspects of the game, such as online lobbies and server stability.”
ArcSys first revamped the Guilty Gear Strive lobbies after last year’s beta, but players didn’t just want to revamp the lobbies; they wanted them dead and missing, replaced by something else entirely. Unfortunately for them, players returning to the most recent beta found that the dreaded online lobbies still existed.
See, instead of a traditional menu lobby, Guilty Gear Strive throws players into a 2D side-scrolling minigame where you can fight or chat with other people while waiting for a match. I have not had to wait in the lobby, so I cannot attest to its functionality, but I must admit it looks a bit crowded there. Also, the pixel-based graphics can be jarring for some compared to the game’s anime art style.
「Important announcement regarding #GuiltyGearStrive
」 pic.twitter.com/siP46ketuE— ArcSystemWorks ➡️ #GuiltyGearStrive 06.11.21 (@ArcSystemWorksU) March 4, 2021
Fortunately, ArcSys says that the additional time granted by the delay will allow developers to work on online lobbies and hopefully find something that players don’t hate as much. The studio also says that it is working to address server issues that some players experienced during beta.
