Bandai Namco recently took to Twitter to announce that the release date for their sci-fi shooter game from Polish development studio The Farm 51, has been delayed. Get Even was originally supposed to launch on May 26th at the end of the week, but Bandai announced that the game has been pushed back to June 23rd next mointh for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.
Given recent events & out of respect we have decided to postpone Get Even to June 23 2017. We would like to express our deepest condolences. pic.twitter.com/boxWnJQCFR
— Bandai Namco US (@BandaiNamcoUS) May 23, 2017
Quite naturally, most people would probably ask “Why are you delaying a shooter game if it has nothing to do with the Manchester bombing?”
Well, some are claiming that it’s because it has themes and parallels to terrorist acts. However, Bandai doesn’t clarify if that means bombings or torture or what.
Across the web, in the more open spaces of discussion, people have instantly began questioning if this was a ploy to get eyes on Get Even since the game has practically zero momentum heading into its supposed release this week.
No one is talking about the game, and at the outset there’s absolutely nothing that has been advertised even relating to the events that took place in Manchester, England involving a bomb going off at an Ariana Grande concert.
The comments on the Twitter timeline for Bandai’s announcement are mostly supportive, but on articles like the one on Eurogamer, gamers aren’t really feeling the sincerity of Bandai’s intentions.
It’s true that before this tweet, Bandai had made no mention or put any effort into the promotion of Get Even’s release.
In a way, it feels like this game’s biggest piece of promotional material has come from its delay in connection with the Manchester bombing.
If you honestly don’t remember the game, you can check out an hour long preview from Shirrako below.
It’s a sci-fi title about memories and alternate reality travel.
It seems like Bandai should have at least spent some time explaining why they were delaying the game by a month. Right now it just looks like a lot of other shooters, and it’s hard to understand why the delay was absolutely necessary. The game and the real life tragedy have zero ties with one another, and it seems more like a publicity stunt than something done in earnest. Then again, maybe the game has a lot of heavy terrorist themes that involve civilians, which may disturb some people, so we’ll see when June 23rd gets here.
