This February kicks off a pretty busy couple of months for games

destructoid.com:

Last year saw a good deal of games get moved, delayed, and pushed around. They all had to go somewhere. And as it turns out, many of those games landed in the February to April window.

I’ve alluded to it a few times in past news posts, but well, this is a very busy month for games. It really didn’t even start with February, but last week with the launch of a new Pokemon game. And it continues on through an end-of-February triple-header, right on into a stacked March, and tapering off into the spring months.

Between Dying Light 2 Stay Human, Elden Ring,and Horizon Forbidden West, there are some heavy hitters launching early this year. And that’s not even counting indies like Sifu or OlliOlli World. So how’d February turn out like this?

Well, to tell it succinctly, delays. Both Dying Light 2 and Horizon Forbidden West pushed out from 2021 launch dates into 2022. Industry heads like Xbox’s Phil Spencer had indicated back in 2020 that the effect of COVID-19 on game development would start to be felt in early 2021. The impact has reached further with each month though, as studios are taking a little extra time to get things right.

Shifting release dates haven’t just been limited to big year-over-year moves, either. Elden Ring was first set for January, before it got pushed back to Feb. 25. In a personal favorite, Sifu actually moved its release date back up. After being delayed from 2021 into 2022, developer Sloclap then moved from the end of February up to Feb. 8. Fans of specific genres get some heavy hitters in The King of Fighters XV, Total War: Warhammer III, Sol Cresta, and Monark. And of course, Destiny 2 takes on the Witch Queen.

Even February itself has to contend with stacked month-neighbors for games released.