days gone
"Days Gone" has been delayed until April. Game enthusiasts and industry personnel visit the Sony Playstation exhibit during the Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 on June 12, 2018 in Los Angeles. Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Anyone who was planning on exploring the zombified open world of “Days Gone” in February just had their schedule opened up. Sony announced early Friday morning that the PS4 exclusive game, which was set for a February release date, has been pushed back to April 26, possibly because there were just too many big games coming out in its original release window.

Tucked away in a PlayStation Blog post with updates a handful of upcoming PlayStation 4 exclusives, Sony said “Days Gone” was delayed to avoid “the crowded February timeframe.” Several high-profile titles, such as “Anthem” and “Metro: Exodus” are also launching on Feb. 22, the previous release date for “Days Gone.”

January and March are both busy, as well. The highly anticipated “Kingdom Hearts III” launches in January, while “The Division 2” hits in March. “Days Gone” developer Bend Studio said it would use the extra time to polish the game. Some pre-release previews have cited gameplay issues and technical problems in hands-on demos of the game.

Sony first announced “Days Gone” in 2016, and has shown the game at multiple trade shows since then. It was originally slated for 2018, but was delayed into 2019 in March. April will mark nearly three years since Sony first showed off “Days Gone,” assuming it does not get delayed again.

In “Days Gone” players traverse an open world environment after a zombie apocalypse as protagonist Deacon St. John. Players will navigate the world on St. John’s motorcycle, fighting hordes of zombies, camps full of hostile humans and even the local wildlife. The game is set in the Pacific Northwest.

The delay of “Days Gone” might give it more room to breathe among an unusually busy early 2019 release slate. There are still several prominent games left to come out during this holiday season, too.