The Pathless, from ABZÛ developer Giant Squid, delayed into early 2020

For me, Giant Squid’s The Pathless is one of the most intriguing titles set to arrive on Apple Arcade, the tech behemoth’s upcoming gaming subscription service. As we first reported back in April, the developer’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed ABZÛ is a mythical adventure which sees you simultaneously controlling an archer and an eagle.

You’ll explore an expansive, mysterious forest, soaking in the sights and uncovering secrets as you go. The story revolves around the main character’s struggles to remove a curse from their once-idyllic land.

The gameplay I’ve seen almost makes it look like a sort of on-rails runner: Not exactly comparable to Temple Run, more like the on-rails set pieces of Platinum’s Bayonetta and the recently released Astral Chain. That said, don’t expect full-on action all the time; The Pathless looks to have a lot of slower, perhaps even stealthy, moments.

The Pathless update: Dev is going great, but we won’t hit our original 2019 date. Its critical that we reach our high quality bar, and its going to take a bit more time. We plan to ship early 2020. So we’ll be on Apple Arcade, but not as a launch title. Thanks! — Giant Squid (@GiantSquidology) 13 September 2019

The Pathless was originally intended to be an early Apple Arcade title – perhaps even available on or just after the service’s September 19th launch – but we now know not to expect Giant Squid’s latest until early 2020. The news arrived over on the developer’s official Twitter account, with the reasoning behind the delay being simple: “Its critical that we reach our high quality bar, and its going to take a bit more time.”

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It’s nice to see so many fans being supportive in the comments below the announcement; A rare sight in a time of hateful, unjustifiable attacks on developers. Be sure to check this one out when it launches on Apple Arcade in early 2020.