As a big fan of roguelikes, action RPGs and Souls inspired combat I've been keeping tabs on Necropolis and looking forward to its March release date with glee.

But unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Necropolis has been delayed until the summer in order to polish it up and prepare it for a simultaneous console release. Here's the most interesting part of the announcement message Harebrained Schemes posted earlier today:

"Our studio, Harebrained Schemes, is working with BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. to bring Necropolis to consoles.

Our plan is to self-publish the game on Steam and for BANDAI NAMCO to release NECROPOLIS on Xbox One and PS4. That’s a pretty big deal for us! First, getting that kind of recognition from the publisher of Dark Souls is kind of amazing and we hope it will raise the profile of the game. But more important than that, BANDAI NAMCO knows how to bring games to consoles. They know the technical certification requirements, they know how to work with the PSN and Xbox stores, and they know how to market games to reach the right audience. I’ve seen a lot of posts on this forum talking about how people have never heard of NECROPOLIS and how we have to step up our game to get the word out. Message received. We hope today’s update to the NECROPOLIS Steam page is a step in the right direction.

Now here’s the big change. All three versions of the game will release at the same time this summer. We’ll announce the new date as soon as everything’s solidified. And before it comes up, this wasn’t BANDAI NAMCO’s idea - it was ours. While I hate to slip our release date, I know from experience that doing a console release right adds a significant amount of dev work. It’s work that had to start right away (because consoles require a lot more lead-time for certification) but we didn’t want the console work to shift our focus away from launching on PC. So we believe this is absolutely the right decision, and that the additional time will make for an even better NECROPOLIS for consoles AND for PC."

While its very easy to read this message and get angry at the consoles for "ruining another one" I have a feeling that this delay will benefit every version of Necropolis. As the developer himself said the marketing for Necropolis has not been the greatest and there are many people out there who absolutely adore this genre yet have no idea of its existence, let alone of the upcoming release date.

Partnering up with a huge AAA publisher, especially one that fronts similar games, is a great idea because you not only have access to a bigger playerbase in the form of consoles but also a much, much bigger marketing budget with which you can ensure that those that might enjoy Necropolis actually get to hear about it.

I would've preferred to play Necropolis in March but if waiting a few more months is enough to ensure it gets the recognition it deserves then I don't mind waiting.