Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown delayed again, now due "early 2024"
But closed beta starts this month.
Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown, the latest instalment in the open-world racing series, has been delayed again, and is now due to arrive on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, PC, and Switch in "early 2024". In better news, its long-promised closed beta begins later this month.
Solar Crown - which ambitiously promises a full digital recreation of Hong Kong Island and its 550km of roads to recklessly careern around - got its official unveiling back in 2020, and was originally expected to launch across all platforms in September last year.
However, as May 2022 rolled around, publisher Nacon announced it was shifting Solar Crown's release back to some undisclosed point in 2023, and confirmed it was ceasing development of the previously announced PS4 and Xbox One versions "with the aim of making the most of the technology in the latest consoles and maximising the overall quality of the game".
A year later, Nacon has quietly delayed Solar Crown again, pushing its launch into "early 2024" for reasons neither it nor developer KT Racing has so far detailed. That updated launch window initially surfaced in a Nacon financial report last week, but has now been given a wider airing during the debut episode of KT Racing's TDU Connect showcase.
Alongside approximately 25 minutes of chaotically presented head-to-head gameplay footage, today's TDU Connect bought the news that Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown's long-promised closed beta will finally begin later this month.
It's schedule to get underway on Monday, 24th July, and will last for three days. Those interested in hitting the streets of digital Hong Kong for some racing and socialising can register for a chance to take part via the closed beta sign-up page on the Test Drive Unlimited website, which unhelpfully doesn't appear to be live yet.