Every game developer fears the dreaded ‘launch day flop’, which is doubly worse when the game is actually good but being ignored because of poor timing. That’s what Dig VR developer Just Add Water and publisher Wired Productions are trying to avoid, as the big digger sim was previously scheduled to arrive just two days after Batman: Arkham Shadow.
Batman: Arkham Shadow is shaping up to be a really promising game. As seen in our hands-on back in August, it packs in tense combat, gritty narrative, and some thoughtful VR-native design—which will rightfully grab Quest 3 users by the eyeballs because every new Quest 3 and Quest 3S is being bundled with the game for free.
Cooler heads have prevailed though, and Dig VR developer Just Add Water, known for Sniper Elite VR (2021), announced it simply won’t compete with one of this year’s biggest VR titles.
Batman: Arkham Shadow’s Camouflaj was technically the first to publicly announce its game, which is coming October 22nd. Still, it wasn’t actually assigned a release date until after the Dig VR team were assigned their own. In short, it was just bad luck.
“Following late-night discussions with our friends at Meta, it became clear that Batman: Arkham Shadow, which was not scheduled for release when Meta assigned our launch date, might just be a pretty big game. As a small indie team, we need every available opportunity and chance to get our game seen. In addition to that, we really want to play Batman too, and wouldn’t have the time otherwise,” the studio says.
The humble digger game—also coming exclusively to Quest—features authentic, immersive controls that recreate the feeling of driving a real digger. It features a campaign mode, but also fast-paced, multiplayer mini-games and sandbox mode.
The studio released a message on X detailing the reasons behind the delay, which is pushing the game’s Quest launch to November 14th. TLDR; the only real reason is to not get thoroughly steam-rolled by the Batmobile:
Dear players,
With a week to go until launch, we have to move the release of DIG VR. We could say it’s to make the game better or to add polish, but the truth is the game is already great and ready. The reason, however, is one we could never have predicted… it’s Batman’s fault.
Following late-night discussions with our friends at Meta, it became clear that Batman: Arkham Shadow, which was not scheduled for release when Meta assigned our launch date, might just be a pretty big game. As a small indie team, we need every available opportunity and chance to get our game seen. In addition to that, we really want to play Batman too, and wouldn’t have the time otherwise.
So, what does this mean? We’ll be moving our release date to 14th November (check out our trailer this afternoon for something special!), and to make it up to the players who have been waiting, we’re now offering a 25% discount through a pre-order program. Previously, there was no discount, and we hope this pre-order and saving go some way towards making up for the extra wait.
So TL;DR, Batman made us move the date. The shift in the release date allows everyone (us too) to dive into Batman: Arkham Shadow and save the streets of Gotham, knowing that once the dust settles, DIG VR will be there to restore the city.
Thank you, as always, for your love and support in the indie scene. We’re nothing without our players.
