It’s never pleasuring to hear about a game getting a delay, but Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain – one of two upcoming entries in the long-running, third-person, alien shooter franchise – has been delayed in Japan. Originally pegged for a late 2018 launch, the game will now aim its iron sights at an unspecified 2019 release window.
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is being developed by Yuke’s Co. Ltd. (also known as Yuke’s Future Media Creators), developers most commonly known for the UFC Undisputed games and the WWE series of wrestling games (including the various Smackdown vs. Raw titles). Not to be confused with Earth Defense Force 5 – being developed by Sandlot – Iron Rain “moves away from its traditional series and into new territory with this new project. Set on planet Earth devastated by war, this new adventure joins the Earth Defense Force as they continue to battle to save the world,” according to a report we published late last year.
Iron Rain was announced at Tokyo Game Show 2017. A year prior, at TGS 2016, Earth Defense Force 5, was announced as now in development, and release on December 7, 2017, for PlayStation 4 in Japan. Both games were slated for a simultaneous – or near simultaneous – release of 2018 in the West. Though Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain has been delayed to 2019, there’s no confirmation of whether this will affect the Earth Defense Force 5 Western port. Assuming that both studios – Sandlot and Yuke’s Co. Ltd. – aren’t working in tandem, then Earth Defense Force 5 should still be on track for its original 2018 launch.
[Source via Gematsu]
