Battery issue causes Playdate to be delayed to early 2022
In addition, the Playdate has also fallen victim to the global chip shortage.
Those excited for the Playdate will unfortunately need to be a little more patient. Developer Panic Inc. announced in an email to pre-order customers that a battery complication delayed the handheld system’s production. As a result, Panic delayed the Playdate’s launch to early 2022.
The developer discovered the issue when numerous finished devices contained completely drained batteries. Earlier this year, Panic halted production to research the cause. The months spent solving the battery issue led directly to a major delay on overall production.
All existing pre-order customers will remain in the queue. However, each group also has shipment delays. The first two groups (first 10,000 orders) will receive their Playdates in early 2022. The third and fourth groups will have to wait until the second half of the year. And the fifth group won’t receive theirs until the end of 2022. Anyone anyone who pre-ordered after the first 50,000 units will have to wait until 2023.
Supply chain issues cause further problems
Currently, Panic is working towards replacing all of the batteries in the devices. However, much of the delay resulted from the 5,000 completed Playdates returning from California back to Malaysia. The global supply-chain crisis caused by COVID-19 further compounds the delay.
Additionally, the supply-chain holdup means Panic has a long wait to receive parts to develop further units. Panic Inc. states it will take them around two years to receive the CPUs for the Playdate. They cite the global chip shortage as the primary cause of delay. This global chip shortage continues to affect developers of all scale. Even Sony is cutting back PS5 production as a result.
Maybe you’ve heard about the ‘global chip shortage’ everyone’s talking about? We’re here to say it is very real. COVID-19 caused an ever-cascading set of worldwide supply chain failures that are leading to many, many electronic parts being simply… gone.
Panic Inc.
In an attempt to resolve the issue, Panic is revising the CPU to provide a more easily-available alternative. However, there is no confirmed release window for the new part.
What is a Playdate?
Playdate is a handheld gaming device developed by Panic Inc.. The device offers a unique handheld gaming experience by utilizing a rotating crank as part of the controls. In addition, new games will be added at random on a weekly basis. Panic will also implement a feature to allow users to create their own games for the platform as well.
Fortunately for those who are interested in developing their own games, Panic has some good news. They will launch an open beta of Pulp, a browser-based development tool, in January. In addition, the software dev kit for Playdate will arrive in February.
Due to the delays, the first shipments of Playdate will launch in 2022. Though there’s a little longer of a wait than originally anticipated, are you still excited for it? Let us know below!
Via Eurogamer
