Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris Gets Delayed

The upcoming Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris game has been postponed thanks to the COVID-19 coronavirus. Originally due to release on 21 May for consoles and 22 May for Steam, it will now be out on 9 July for the former and 10 July for the latter.

【発売延期のお知らせ】
2020/5/21発売予定の家庭用最新作 「SWORD ART ONLINE Alicization Lycoris」の発売を7/9に延期させて頂きます。発売をお待ち頂いている皆様には大変ご迷惑をおかけいたしますことを、深くお詫び申し上げます。
詳細は公式HPをご確認ください。https://t.co/kFmfmkuCEM#SAOAL

— ソードアート・オンライン ゲーム公式情報 (@sao_gameinfo) April 24, 2020

It’s currently uncertain how this will affect the game’s worldwide release date. Bandai Namco’s English site currently displays its original release date of 22 May, the same as Japan’s original Steam release date, so it’s likely that the postponement will cause the international release date to be pushed to July as well.

Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris is based on the Alicization arc of the popular Sword Art Online series, where protagonist Kirito finds himself in a mysterious virtual realm called “Underworld”. There will be some differences, however, like the presence of new character Medina Orthinanos.

The game looks decent from the bits I’ve seen, but it looks like we’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out for ourselves. In the meantime, check out the new trailer below.