Hilariously enough the mixed-epoch hack-and-slash MOBA from Chinese outfit Evolution Studios has been delayed. Originally Blood of Steel was supposed to release on February 20th, 2020 but as the release date arrived the game did not. The reason? Coronavirus.

Evolution Studios had a PR firm issue a letter to the press indicating that Blood of Steel would miss its release date and would not arrive until further notice.

The developers are part of the forced quarantine that the State party induced on many parts of mainland China. They informed the PR firm that they aren’t able to work from the studio as planned, and so final touches on the game that were supposed to be implemented were not.

They also relayed the following to the public relations team…

“[…] development has stopped and the team is still holding off at home, so the scheduled release in February would not be possible. The new release date is TBD but the team will try to make it happen in Spring”

This is yet another media property claimed by coronavirus, joining the likes of various other anime and video games that were delayed or postponed due to the quarantine.

The game itself is a mixed hybrid of sorts, combining the thousand-army hack-and-slash mechanics with MOBA-inspired objectives, and a Warriors Orochi-inspired smorgasbord of hero characters from different eras.

You can get a glimpse of what the gameplay is like with the video below from Ultra HD Gameplay.

Blood of Steel combines some strategic elements from games like Mount & Blade, such as directing your troops and setting up formations. But you also get directional blocking, melee, and long-ranged attacks as well.

The concept may share propinquity with the aforementioned titles, and the very obvious lifting of Dynasty Warriors’ template, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired.

Then again… maybe this coronavirus quarantine is for the best? I mean, the team can take some time to refine the animations, improve the enemy AI’s hit-reactions and hit-detection, as well as upgrade the player-character’s movement fluidity, and smooth out the blending between walking animations and blocking/attacking.

There’s no new release date for Blood of Steel, so you’ll just have to sit back and wait for further updates regarding the release.