Goodbye Volcano High, the “hybrid cinematic narrative/rhythm game/coming of age/interactive movie experience” from developer KO_OP has been delayed again, this time by two and a half months to 29th August.
Announced back in 2020, Goodbye Volcano High – which follows the adventures of a group of teen dinosaurs as they learn to live and love in a world teetering on the bring of destruction – was originally expected to launch in 2021, but a narrative reboot and the global pandemic saw KO_OP shift its release into 2023.
Earlier this year, it seemed an end was finally in sight when KO_OP slapped it with a 15th June release date, but the studio has now opted to push the game’s launch back by another ten weeks “after assessing its production schedule”.
“The reality is that, with our current workload, we could not have met our June launch date without significant cuts to the quality and scope of the game,” it explained in a statement shared on Twitter. “This would mean delivering something much different than what we’ve envisioned and worked toward. We don’t want to release anything less than the best version of the game we have been making throughout our development cycle.”
“Plus, we’re a studio that prides itself on avoiding crunch,” it added. “Meeting our original launch date would require out team to work nights, weekends, and early mornings to ship and risk burning people out”.
Goodbye Volcano High casts players as Fang, the lead singer of a band whose members are in the final year of school, as the group battles with “love, change, and the end of an era”. In gameplay terms, it offers a blend of rhythm action and choice-driven narrative adventure, featuring a branching story and full voice acting, with the cast including Lachlan Watson, who recently made a memorable impact as Glen and Glenda in season two of the Chucky TV show.
If you’re curious, Goodbye Volcano High currently has a playable demo on Steam, and the full game will be available on PC, PS4, PlayStation 5 when it releases on 29th August.