Perhaps he had simply missed a memo.
Cult hit The Stanley Parable’s much-expanded Ultra Deluxe edition – which introduces new bits, new endings, and hopefully a few new squiggly lines – has decided to eschews its original 2019 release date and will now launch next year.
The Stanley Parable, if you’re unaware, started life as a Half-Life 2 mod back in 2011 before it was expanded into a standalone release in 2013. It tells the story of office worker Stanley as he embarks on an adventure that could, assuming the disembodied Narrator gets his way, reveal the terrifying truth behind those unassuming cubicles and beige walls. That’s not a spoiler by the way, that’s pretty much the first ten minutes of the game.
As has been discussed at length over the years, The Stanley Parable is, at least in part, a rumination on the nature of free will, with players engaging in a never-ending battle of wits with the game’s ever-present Narrator (superbly played by the velvety voiced Kevan Brighting), who just wants to tell his story. More importantly though, it’s frequently very, very funny, with much of the joy coming from the Narrator’s increasingly strained relationship with Stanley/the player, as their refusal to stick to the prescribed narrative path leads to ever more bizarre adventures.
The Stanley Parable’s Ultra Deluxe edition, the third iteration of the game, promises to expand on those delightful convolutions still further, with creators Davey Wren and William Pugh claiming the new additions will amount to about half the size of the original script. Just as significantly, however, it’ll mark the very first time the game has been available on consoles – although we don’t know which ones as yet.
Unfortunately, while the Ultra Deluxe edition was originally anticipated to release this year (as announced during the Video Game Awards 2018), Pugh and Wren have now officially confirmed that’s no longer the case. Instead, it’s been given a revised release date of 2020, “probably before the summer” depending how development goes.
On the positive side, the pair has used the delay as an always welcome excuse to drag Brighting’s Narrator back out of the cupboard for a bit of pre-release japery – that sees the delay announcement take on a six-minute life of its own – which you can enjoy in the video above.
