One of the most hotly anticipated games of 2017 has now got itself a fully confirmed release date, full pricing structure, a new world and some lovely pre-order incentives.
First things first, Yooka-Laylee will roll onto Xbox One, PS4 and PC come April 11th 2017. Team17 and Playtonic Games have today confirmed that those who didn’t get involved in the Kickstarter for the game can now pre-order it for £34.99 / $39.99 / €39.99 in both digital and physical form. Doing so will unlock the Yooka-Laylee Toybox, giving a little taste of the mechanics that will appear in the full game, in its own self contained spoiler free sandbox experience.
There has also been a reveal of a brand new world for our favourite duo to explore – that of Capital Cashino. As one of five worlds which completes Yooka-Laylee, it will be fully expandable, giving new areas and challenges to complete. This one however gives players the chance to win casino tokens (hence the name), before exchanging them for pivotal Pagies.
So, that’s the good news. Where’s the bad? Well, whilst it won’t affect us Xbox gamers, those who were holding out hope for a Wii U version of the game will be utterly disappointed that it has now been shelved. Instead though, development is being transferred to the new Nintendo Switch platform.
“We’re sad to announce that despite our best efforts and exploring every possible avenue, we have encountered unforseen technical issues that unfortunately mean it will be impossible for us to release Yooka-Laylee on Wii U as initially planned.” Gavin Price, Studio Director, Playtonic Games confirmed.
“We can however confirm today that we are working very closely with Nintendo to look to bring Yooka-Laylee to the upcoming Nintendo Switch™. We’re thrilled to be able to explore the opportunity and more details will be shared in early 2017. Of course, any backers who pledged for the Wii U version will be able to move their pledge to any of the versions launching on April 11th or upgrade to the Nintendo Switch™ version when we announce further details in 2017. Thanks again for your incredible support.”
We reckon most gamers will be able to deal with the loss of Wii U, and point to the fact that three big positives more than outweigh the one single negative that Team17 and Playtonic are delivering today.
Just keep an eye out for Yooka-Laylee when it arrives in April 2017.
