The spread of the novel coronavirus has added confusion to all things. People and businesses are doing their best to adhere to social distancing and safety protocols, but sometimes doing so isn't fast or easy. More often than not, doing the right thing despite the unpredictable consequences is the right choice. Such is the case with Mojang, apparently. The Minecraft Dungeons developer is prioritizing the safety of the studio's employees, which means that the game might be delayed out of April.
Mojang's doing the transparent thing and is informing gamers looking forward to Minecraft Dungeons about the possibility of a delay. A message posted to the official Minecraft Dungeons Twitter clarifies the situation. "As we're working from home to do our part in protecting our community, our workflows will unfortunately be impacted," is how the message starts. It seems that Mojang has implemented its work from home policies in order to blunt the potential spread of the coronavirus.
"We're working hard to deliver Minecraft Dungeons in April, but we're also re-evaluating our timeline to make sure we bring you the best game possible. Stay tuned!" is the rest of Mojang's message to fans. In other words, Minecraft Dungeons will potentially be delayed. The fact that Mojang felt it was necessary to say something probably implies that a delay is likely.
Mojang is currently going through a "reevaluation" of Minecraft Dungeons' ongoing development. That likely implies that it's looking specifically at how the new work from home policies are affecting development. Given the tumultuous nature of the evaluation, it may be a bit before fans find out officially if Minecraft Dungeons has been delayed. It would join a growing list of games delayed in 2020.
To be fair to Mojang, Minecraft Dungeons has never had a firm release date. The game has always had an open April release window. That perhaps hints that Mojang set April as its goal, but was open to the possibility of a delay. This possibility has always been taken into account, though not likely due to a pandemic.
Mojang has been ramping up marketing for Minecraft Dungeons over the past several months, putting out new teasers and trailers. Communication from Mojang has been great. Expect to continue hearing more about the upcoming ARPG in the weeks to come. And if Minecraft Dungeons does get pushed to May, Mojang will make sure fans hear it as soon as it's a certainty.
Minecraft Dungeons remains planned to launch in April on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
