The beautiful Minute of Islands is the latest delay after a hard year for game development

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Minute of Islands was revealed in the summer of 2020 as the story of a tinkerer named Mo who lives on a chain of islands filled with strange, dilapidated machines that must be kept running in order to hold some ancient threat at bay. The setup sounds sinister, but I thought—and think—that it looks oddly lovely, and the suggestion that there's more going on than is immediately apparent also has me curious.

It was expected to be out later that year, which obviously didn't work out—it was a tough year for everyone, after all. In February publisher Mixtvision committed to a March 18 release instead, but unfortunately that's not going to happen either: Alluding to the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said today that "major technical issues" came up in the most recent round of testing, and that's scuttled the launch plan.

"We all know (especially after one year of a global pandemic) that things don’t always go according to plan. As much as we had hoped and intended to bring Minute of Islands to stores on March 18, some significant last-minute issues appeared during our last round of testing," Mixtvision tweeted. "This means that it’s with a heavy heart that we’ve decided to push the release on all platforms to a later date."

Rest assured that the extra time invested is spent in your best interest. We appreciate your patience and hope you’ll bear with us and remain as excited as we are for Minute of Islands’ final release. (3/3)March 3, 2021

"While we very much regret having to push Minute of Islands’ release date, we are convinced that the extra time invested is in the players’ best interest," Mixtvision publishing director Benjamin Feld said in a separate statement. "We are looking forward to releasing a unique game that combines stunning art direction with emotional storytelling to a long-lasting experience."

Specifics on the technical issues that forced the delay weren't revealed, but it sounds like they're pretty serious: Mixtvision said that a new release date "can't be given at the moment." For now, you can find out more about the game at minute-of-islands.com.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.