Chalk up yet another set of game delays for 2021, and some sad ones at that: Rainbow Six Extraction and Riders Republic, two of the big tentpole releases this year from Ubisoft. The publisher announced the delays separately, but both seem to stem from the same general reason: The developers needed more time to make the games better.
Ubisoft announced the Rainbow Six Extraction delay in a post on its website, saying: “We are embracing the opportunity to take additional time to bring this vision to life in the way it deserves in January 2022. We are confident this will ensure Rainbow Six Extraction is the immersive, cooperative, and thrilling experience we set out to create, and the one you aspire to play.” It also said of the game: “Our ambition with Rainbow Six Extraction is to deliver a full-fledged AAA experience that changes the way you play and think about cooperative games,” which is presumably why it’s now been delayed (it was going to be released on September 16).
In another post, Ubisoft announced the delay for Riders Republic. It’s not getting as long of a delay, at least — it’s been moved from September 2 to October 28. Says Ubisoft, “To ensure we can deliver the best game for all players, we’ve made the tough decision to delay our release date… This will give us more time to fine-tune the experience and give you another chance to jump in before launch and provide feedback.” It also invited players to join the beta that’s launching soon.
Both games have been delayed before. Extraction was previously known as Quarantine, and it was originally scheduled for a 2020 release, but like many games, was delayed out of that year. Similarly, Riders Republic was supposed to be released last February before being delayed to its fall release window.
