As announced earlier today, PlayStation has delayed Destruction AllStars to February 2021 and all preorders will be refunded. If you were looking forward to this game as a launch title, this news is unfortunate. The bright side is, upon its February release, Destruction AllStars will be available to PS Plus customers at no additional charge.

I think PlayStation understands Destruction AllStars would not have done well this November, especially at the $70 price point. In a holiday season surrounded by first party exclusives, like Dark Souls and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, to long awaited third party games, like Cyberpunk 2077, Destruction AllStars was essentially being sent out to die.

Similar to another car based sports game, Rocket League, Destruction AllStars is an online based multiplayer game. Multiplayer games heavily rely on how many people actually play. If not many people are playing, then this will create a not so pleasant experience for gamers. With as much competition present in November, it would have to fight to stay alive and Sony knows this. Take a look at this exert from the PlayStation Blog:

“Destruction AllStars is a multiplayer game that’s at its best when you’re competing with gamers online from all around the world. We want as many people as possible to experience the mayhem on PS5, and what better way to do that than to provide the game to our PlayStation Plus members?”

Pushing Destruction AllStars back to February and releasing it on PlayStation Plus is the best move they could have done. It moves the game out of a crowded month of game releases and just about guarantees millions will download it for free in February. Having to wait a little bit longer may not be ideal, but the wait will be worth it in the end.