Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto has confirmed that the Wii U will lose an exclusive this holiday season, after announcing that the Big N and developer Platinum Games have postponed the release of Star Fox Zero into 2016.
Miyamoto posted a heart-felt message announcing the delay via Facebook, where the esteemed developer revealed that the development team simply required more time to further polish the sci-fi platformer.
We have been developing Star Fox Zero for Wii U with the aim of releasing it this year. Although we felt that the development had been progressing well, we now believe that we will need a little more time to work on areas such as the unprecedented discovery that we want players to experience in the game by using two screens, and further polishing the level designs and perfecting the tone of the cut scenes.
While we have already reached the stage where it would be technically possible to release the title in time for the year-end holiday season, we want to polish the game a bit more so that players will be able to more smoothly grasp the new style of play that we are proposing.
Officially unveiled during E3 back in June, Star Fox Zero was on course to release on November 20, 2015 alongside Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash. Developed with the Wii U’s GamePad in mind, the latest installment in the long-running platformer series is brimming with features designed to enhance the experience of playing as one Fox McCloud. Whether it can channel the greatness of Star Fox 64, though, is another question entirely.
From now until its release in Q1 2016, the Big N will be setting out to ensure that Star Fox Zero iterates on the core formula of the franchise in exciting new ways, while Miyamoto noted that the creative team will have all hands on deck to ensure that the “final product will not betray your expectations.”