After 5 years of development, the long-awaited release date for Psychonauts 2 may finally have been revealed. Psychonauts 2 was recently added to Steam's coming soon section, where keen-eyed gamers noted it appeared sandwiched between two games that are both being released on August 25. This implies that Psychonauts 2 will also be releasing on August 25, though it has since been relocated to a spot more fitting of its official 2021 release date.
According to studio Double Fine, Psychonauts 2 is still on track to release in 2021, but its precise release date has yet to be announced. It's possible that it was originally placed between two games releasing on August 25 as a placeholder, which would explain why it was so quickly moved. However, games in the coming soon section are arranged by the dates set by the developers on the Steamworks site, which means that Psychonauts 2 probably had its date modified in the back end when it was moved to the 2021 section.
Some games have had their final release dates revealed through their position in the Steam coming soon section, such as the PC port of Days Gone. This isn't guaranteed to be the case with Psychonauts 2, which has taken quite a while to put together and may not be finished development for a while. Though Xbox owners can pre-download Psychonauts 2 through the official Xbox app, the game is not finished and it is unknown when it will be officially released.
As of writing, Psychonauts 2 is listed between Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, which has its release date listed as TBC, and Uragun, which has its release date listed as Q4 2021. August falls under Q3, so it is possible that Psychonauts 2 has simply been delayed to an October, November, or December date. It's also possible that the developers simply don't want to back themselves into a corner by laying down a concrete release date that may have to be pushed back. Whatever the case, Double Fine has been eagerly showcasing some new Psi-Powers found in Psychonauts 2, which look good enough to launch right now.
Although Psychonauts 2 takes place just a few days after the original game, it took 15 years to arrive. Part of that is because Double Fine has been going out of its way to make sure the game accurately represents mental health. In fact, the Psychonauts 2 team has been working with a psychologist to make sure its depictions of mental illness are accurate, which is excellent since mental health appears to be a major theme in the upcoming title. Fans of the series will see whether this hard work pays off when the game is finally released.
Psychonauts 2 is scheduled to release in 2021 for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: PureXbox
