By Bryan Smith on December 23, 2015 at 4:46pm
On the PlayStation Blog, Sony and Naughty Dog announced that "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End" will be pushed back from its March 18, 2016 release date to April 26, 2016.
Let’s start with the good news: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is wrapping up production and is shaping up to be the proper send off for Nathan Drake that we’ve promised you. The bad news is that we need a bit more time to finish the game so that it meets our standards and vision. Let’s cut to the chase, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End has a new release date in North America of April 26, 2016.
This is our largest Uncharted game to date, and the team has been working incredibly hard to meet the challenge of closing out the game’s development in a timely manner. However, as we approached our final deadlines and started wrapping up the game’s levels, we realized that several key sequences needed extra resources to bring them to the finish line. After carefully considering all of our options, we decided to extend our schedule, making sure that we get a few more polish passes before submitting our gold master (the final disc for manufacturing).
Pushing the date is not an easy choice, and we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t feel in our hearts it’s the best course of action for the game. To you, our loyal fans, we hope you’ll accept our sincere apology. We know many of you have been waiting patiently for Nathan Drake’s final chapter, and now we humbly ask you to wait a bit longer.
On April 26, 2016 the most ambitious installment in the Uncharted series will be in your hands. Neil Druckmann & Bruce Straley
This wasn't the first time that "Uncharted 4" was delayed. The first release window was in Fall 2015, where it would have gone against crowded competition with "Rise of the Tomb Raider," "Fallout 4," "Star Wars Battlefront (2015)," and "Call of Duty: Black Ops III." Naughty Dog, as they have done today, delayed the game into 2016 so the game could receive more polish.
PlayStation Blog