The original release date was only recently announced, but Big Ant and the AFL have announced that AFL 23’s launch has been pushed back from April 13th to May 4th, 2023.
The reason for the delay is claimed to be that stock on one platform – reportedly Xbox – is yet to arrive in the country for the physical edition of the game, and so the decision has been made to push back the entire release to make it fair on everyone.
You can see the statement shared to Twitter below:
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“Physical stock of one of the AFL 23 console platforms has not arrived in Australia. To provided equity and fairness between all purchasers, regretfully, the release of AFL 23 will be postponed until 4 May 2023”
An update on #AFL23. pic.twitter.com/9avdL74ENK
— AFL (@AFL) April 6, 2023
AFL 23 is the first AFL game by Melbourne’s Big Ant Studios since AFL Live, with NSW developer Wicked Witch developing the last few games in the series. It’s set to feature four-player online and local co-op with cross-play between platforms, with a management career mode including drafting and player development. You’ll also be able to create your own clubs, players and stadiums and share them with the world, and commentary will be presented by Anthony Hudson, Hamish McLachlan, Daisy Pearce, Daniel Harford, Kelli Underwood and Jason Bennett.
We got a first look at gameplay late last year for the grand final, and you can see that below:
