Harmonix’s crowdfunded revival of Amplitude for PS4 and PS3 has been delayed once again, and now will not be out until early next year for most fans.
The delay was announced today in a new Kickstarter update. “We’ve decided to double down, increase the project budget, and make the new Amplitude bigger and better than the scope of game we originally pitched to you all last year,” said Harmonix’s Alex Rigopulos in the post.
More specifically, online leaderboards, two new environments, and new game modes are being added. There’s now a solo campaign, solo free play, free-for-all (for 2-4 players), and team play (1v3 or 2v2) modes. Also, the original estimate of around 16 songs has been increased to 30, and those who backed the Kickstarter at a high-enough tier will receive an extra song.
Due to the increase in scope, however, it’s going to take more time to finish the game. Amplitude had been expected out this summer after being delayed past its original March release target; now, it’s not due out until early next year. Backers who are eligible to receive early access will get to play the PS4 version in December, “prior to the holiday break,” while everyone else will get it in January. The PS3 version “will follow shortly behind.” Specific dates for all of this will be shared in the future.
“We know that this schedule slip will be a disappointment to many of you. (Frankly, it’s disappointing to us as well, as we’re all dying to play the finished game…),” Rigopulos said. “However, our judgment was that our highest priority is to deliver the best game we possibly can to our fans–the definitive version of Amplitude. We want to over-deliver for our biggest supporters, and that’s simply going to require some extra time.”
Unfortunately, the added development time won’t result in the inclusion of a standard online multiplayer mode. This was set to be added if Kickstarter funding reached $1.125 million, but crowdfunding ended up at $844,127. Rigopulos said that including the feature is “impossible within our budget means for this game, even with the expanded budget. However, our hope is that this release of Amplitude will be successful enough to justify a sequel or feature expansion pack that could include this. In the meantime, the newly added leaderboard system will enable plenty of heated asynchronous online competition!”
For more on Amplitude, check out our hands-on impressions from E3 last month.
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