Why it matters: While some may be disappointed that Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is being delayed for the second time, others would rather the game arrive late than on time and broken or incomplete. All we know is that with more than $5.5 million in backing, it would be a shame if it didn't arrive at all.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, the Kickstarter-funded spiritual successor to Castlevania, has been delayed yet again. Worse yet, the title is no longer being developed for the PlayStation Vita.
In a campaign update published on Monday, designer and producer Koji "IGA" Igarashi said Bloodstained will now launch in 2019. The reason for the delay, Igarashi said, is to "raise the quality level," especially in light of all the valuable feedback received following the beta backer demo.
Igarashi also announced that they've canned development of the PlayStation Vita version of the game due to Sony's plans to discontinue the handheld. Backers that ordered the PS Vita version will have the option to either request a refund or get the game on a different platform.
The push to raise money for Bloodstained launched in 2015 with a successful Kickstarter generating more than $5.5 million in pledges from nearly 65,000 backers. The game was originally set to arrive in March of 2017 but roughly six months before launch, IGA said the team was pushing it back until 2018 in order to deliver the best possible product.
Bloodstained is one of multiple projects with ties to Castlevania to crop up in recent memory. Konami earlier this year announced a new iOS game based on the popular franchise called Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls. There's also an animated Castlevania series that premiered on Netflix last summer, the second season of which is scheduled to debut this October.