The highly anticipated video game Party Animals has been added to the Xbox game pass, but fans will have to be patient as the game release has once again been delayed as developers go through “production hell.”
The game has been dogged by setbacks, the latest caused by an increase in the number of people working on the game, which has led to a reduction in efficiency due to communication and process issues. Hopes remain that Party Animals will be released in 2022, but Recreate Games has warned that there could still be “possible delays due to quality and compliance approvals.”
While Party Animals features cute animals including a corgi named Nemo, appearances can be deceptive as the animals take part in a vicious brawl for supremacy, using outsized weapons including plungers and lollipops.
A long history of popular animal games
The use of animal characters is prevalent in the video game industry. Dating back to the 90s with the Crash Bandicoot and Sonic the Hedgehog game franchises to the present with games such as the Goat Simulator and Filthy Animals Heist Simulator.
The phenomenon of anthropomorphic animals is also a popular device in the movie industry. From the talking rabbits in the 1978 movie Watership Down to the human-like bees in Bee Movie, the 2007 comedy film written and produced by Jerry Seinfeld, who also starred alongside Renée Zellweger and Matthew Broderick. Animated animals are also a staple in the iGaming industry with slot game titles such as Sky Piggies, which features airborne pigs and the Fishin Frenzy slot, with its animated, smiling fish. The use of animal heroes is a highly popular device as the memorable characters can endear players to a particular game, giving it an edge in a crowded industry with a wide range of operators.
Creating a game for all levels of expertise
In the case of Party Animals, Zixiong Luo, CEO of Recreate Games, is hoping that the game, which features pugilistic animals, will satisfy a gap in the video games market. The idea behind the title was to develop a multiplayer game that can be enjoyed by inexperienced players. This influenced the use of cute animals, simple game mechanics and colorful graphics. Of course, the objective was also to ensure that the game included elements for experienced gamers, such as competitive features and more complex team modes. Indeed, Party Animals has been described as the video game Gang Beasts on steroids.
Delays in video game development are not a new phenomenon. BlueTwelve Studio began development of the video game Stray, a third-person adventure from the perspective of a stray cat, in 2015, but delays led to the game not being released until July 2022, a full two years after its launch at a PS5 event.
Recreate Games were at pains to clarify the meaning of the term production hell. Explaining that the phenomenon, which is used by Tesla Motors when capacity is expanded, affects all video game development companies, even the most experienced. The situation is made even more challenging for the game developer with the game studio based in Shanghai and all of the staff continuing to work from home.
The issues behind the protracted delay of Party Animals just go to highlight the complicated nature of game development, with studios preferring to postpone release over disappointing fans with a less-than-perfect product.
