Ikonei Island Delayed on Xbox to Improve Gameplay Experience; The Game Was Previously Delayed on PlayStation

Jetpack Collective and The Iterative Collective announced that the Snowcastle Games-developed farming adventure Ikonei Island will be delayed until February on Xbox. The game was previously delayed on PlayStation until 2024 earlier this year, but the developer was confident they could meet the release on Xbox and match the quality players expect.

However, after Ikonei Island was released on PC via Steam and Epic Games Stores, a handful of bugs appeared in the build that they didn’t see during testing. The publisher has also confirmed the game went through extensive testing, but issues still appeared. Now, the developer is working on fixing the game’s current bugs to bring the PC release up to standard and bring that quality to the console release.

You can read the full statement below:

On 9th November we released Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure on Steam and Epic Games Stores and although the majority of players love the game, we discovered a number of issues had slipped in, despite hundreds of hours of testing.

We already had to make the call to delay the PlayStation build to the new year – 8th February – but we were desperate to keep our promise to release the Xbox build this year. Unfortunately we are now no longer able to do that – as we need to ensure that we don’t release the game with the bugs we have found on the PC version. Whilst we are confident we have fixed the problems, it will take time to implement those in the Xbox build and go back through the platform processes.

This is a massive blow to the entire team. We cannot in good conscience let those issues happen again for our players. We are also aiming for full platform crossplay, but making all systems cooperate between Steam, Epic Store, Xbox and Playstation is a daunting task. Unfortunately, more work is needed and even though we will fix the technical aspects, there are some contractual approvals with the console owners that might take even longer.

With that in mind we have taken the incredibly difficult decision to change the Xbox release date to 8th February 2024, to release simultaneously with Playstation. This will allow us to make sure console players get the game they deserve.

On PC (Steam and Epic), the team have made a herculean effort to fix the issues players have identified and will continue to do so. This is not the end of our commitment as we will continue to add new features and experiences, and ensure that these are also delivered in the console experience when we launch in the new year and beyond. The first taste of this intended direction will come with some winter seasonal decoration over the holiday season.

We would like to thank our amazing community of players from fans of the original Earthlock game, to the new fans who have already given us overwhelmingly positive feedback. We know that this further delay will be a disappointment to them, but we also don’t take our responsibility lightly and endeavour to deliver the game on all platforms to the quality you should be able to expect.   

We’ll continue to follow the development and release of Ikonei Island.

Ikonei Island offers a captivating adventure that can be enjoyed either solo or with friends. Players are invited to explore the stunning island, form connections with magical creatures, utilize their unique abilities, unveil hidden mysteries, collect resources to craft a delightful home, engage in battles against pirates, and much more. The game draws inspiration from beloved classics such as Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, and My Time at Portia, while also weaving its own narrative depth, rooted in the enchanting themes introduced in Snowcastle’s Earthlock.