Developer Hinterland has announced that it's delaying the release of sub-zero survival game The Long Dark's third Wintermute story episode. It will no longer be launching in December, as had originally been anticipated.
Episode Three, which follows on from the last year's duo of opening chapters, continues the adventures of Dr. Astrid Greenwood, and will include new survivors, a new region to explore, plus new details on the First Flare event that engulfed Great Bear Island in the endless winter. However, writing in a new blog post, The Long Dark director Raphael van Lierop explained that the studio has chosen to delay its release "to add more content and polish".
This, van Lierop explained, follows a number of new hires from the now-defunct Capcom Vancouver (Hinterland says it's also looking to bring on ex-Telltale staff with a narrative background), enabling the developer to significantly expand its team. The new art, animation, and programming talent - not to mention the acquisition of Capcom Vancouver's motion capture equipment - has made "a huge difference to what [the studio] can accomplish in Episode Three", and Hinterland says it intends to take full advantage of these new abilities.