Bandai NamcoannouncedSword Art Online Alicization Lycorishas been delayed due to the Coronavirus state of emergency in Japan.Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoriswas supposed to launch on May 21 in Japan and May 22 worldwide, but was now delayed to July 9 in Japan and July 10 worldwide.A message from Producer Yousuke Futami was shared as well. In it, he apologies to the fans and explains that a delay is inevitable with the current situation. This is a decision Bandai Namco took when considering the safety of each and every person involved inSAOAL’s development.SAOALalready received its CERO C rating, so thetemporary closure of CERO announced on April 7won’t affect the game’s release. Back then, Producer Yousuke Futami said in a now deleted tweet (at the very least, I cannot find it anymore) that the game’s DLC content could get affected however. But that either way, they’ll keep working from home and do everything they can. And now, a delay was announced after reevaluating the situation.On April 10, the animeSword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld Part 2was also delayed from April to July. When this announcement came around, multiple fans were expectingSAOALto get delayed too. We are now settled.

Right afterSAOAL’s delay was announced, Producer Yousuke Futami reiterated his message on Twitter and added: “Under the current circumstances, we can still follow a development plan that ensures we keep releasing many updates and content post release, the safety of all the game’s developers worldwide, and the game’s quality, so please wait until July 9.”

You should expectmany other Japanese games to get delayedthis way.As Masahiro Sakurai hinted,most Japanese studios can’t work as well and take decisions without directly meeting each other.

Update:A new commercial for the game was published. Here it is along with the latest trailer:

Sword Art Online Alicization Lycorisadapts the first part of theAlicization arc but has some major story differences starting at what corresponds to episode 24 of the SAO AlicizationÂanime.SAOALis developed by Aquria, the Japanese studio behind SAO Infinity Moment, Hollow Fragment, andÂHollow Realization. You can check out some gameplay, trailers and an explanation of the battle system throughour past coverage. We also got details on the story and all thenew original characters appearingAlicization Lycoris. The game will also feature aPremium Pass and DLC content we detailed here.Producer Futami also teased that characters who don’t appear in the Alicizationarc first part like Silicamight still be included at some point.

Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoriswill be available on PC via Steam, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.