The Outer Worlds’ Switch port has been delayed because of the coronavirus outbreak

But now there will be a physical cartridge

The coronavirus epidemic in China has had significant effect on the video game industry. Last week, Taipei Game Show, one of the most-attended video game conventions in the world, was postponed due to the outbreak. Now, a highly-anticipated port of one of 2019’s best games has been pushed back.

Publisher Private Division has announced that the Switch port of Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds has been delayed due to coronavirus health concerns. Virtuos is the studio that’s handling the port, and it’s primarily located in China. Its largest team is in Shanghai, but it also has offices in Chengdu and Xian.

The originally scheduled launch date for The Outer Worlds on Switch was March 6. Exactly one month away from that target, Private Division made the call to delay the port as it became evident that development couldn’t continue at a normal pace. There’s no new release date yet.

However, there is a silver lining. The delay affords Private Division the opportunity to manufacture a physical Switch cartridge. Before, the physical version was simply a box with a download code inside. Collectors should be plenty happy about that — they’ll just have to wait a little longer than originally thought.

We’re delaying @OuterWorlds on Nintendo Switch due to the coronavirus impacting the Virtuos team working on the port, to provide them enough time to finish development. We’ll now be releasing the physical version on cartridge. Once we have a new launch date, we’ll let you know!

— Private Division (@PrivateDivision) February 6, 2020