MechWarrior 5 delayed to avoid clashing with Cyberpunk 2077

Yet another title has seen its release date move to avoid bumping up against the blockbuster release of Cyberpunk 2077. 

Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries was originally slated for release on PC platforms on December 10, along with the DLC Heroes of the Inner Sphere, but will now instead be released sometime in 2021 instead.

The original release date would have seen it clash with the Cyberpunk 2077 delay, which is now releasing December 10 from another pushed back date in November. Several titles have already moved their release date out of the December window to avoid coinciding with the game's release, which will no doubt command much of the attention of the gaming community when it comes out.

Piranha Games, the developer of Mechwarrior 5, outright admitted that the coincidence of releasing on the original date was the motivation for their delay. "Day one sales and marketing are so important to a successful product launch," said the studio in a formal statement, "and we believe that rescheduling our release date will allow MechWarrior 5 Mercenaries to have the opportunity and attention it deserves." 

Piranha Games made a point of outlining the benefits of the delay, stating that pushing the release date back would create "additional opportunities that will benefit the game," including improvements and quality of life features. They also took the opportunity to announce that MechWarrior 5 Mercenaries will be available on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One. This will make it the first MechWarrior title available on a console in over 15 years. Piranha is currently in the process of making a developer vlog to further explain the delay. 

Players can look forward to playing the game and the DLC in Spring 2021. 

While you wait for Mechwarrior 5, check out our list of the best free Steam games you can play right now.