Overcrowded October forces another big-name game delay all the way into 2024

Alone in the Dark, the reboot of the classic Infogrames/Atari survival horror game in which Jodie Comer and David Harbour spend some time exploring a haunted mansion and trying not to die horribly, has been delayed. Instead of coming out on October 25 as planned, publisher THQ Nordic has opted to push it to January 16, 2024.

THQ Nordic said the delay is not due to technical struggles, but simply because of all the other big games coming out this month: "Our intention is to avoid competing with the wake of Alan's epic release and to evade the dazzling skyline of cities adorned by the graceful swings of Spider-Man."

That list (Alan Wake 2, Cities: Skylines 2, and the PS5 exclusive Spider Man 2, in case the messaging was a little too subtle) excludes a slew of other major October 2023 game releases including The Lamplighters League, Assassin's Creed: Mirage, Forza Motosport, Lords of the Fallen, Endless Dungeon, Ghostrunner 2, and Total War: Pharaoh, among others—it's a genuinely busy month. 

Delaying into 2024 might seem a bit excessive if you just want to avoid October, but once you're into November it's full-scale holiday season and things get even hairier. For a game-maker looking for a window of relative quiet, 2023 is pretty much a write-off at this point.

Of course, THQ Nordic and developer Pieces Interactive won't just be sitting on their thumbs waiting for the new year to arrive: The delay will also allow them "to meticulously perfect" Alone in the Dark before it goes live.

Somewhat ironically, Alan Wake 2—the first game THQ Nordic cited as the reason for Alone in the Dark's delay—was also recently delayed because of the October deluge, although in that case it was a very brief postponement, from October 17 to October 27, just enough to avoid the meat of the month.

Alone in the Dark will be available for PC on Steam, where the release date is currently still listed as October 25. (Just making a note of that to avoid confusion.) If you'd like to sample the wares before you commit, Alone in the Dark Prologue, a "playable teaser" in which 11-year-old Grace Saunders "embarks on a short yet memorable trip through a wing of Derceto Manor," is free to play on Steam.