Little Orpheus Black And White Screenshot
Image: The Chinese Room

Today, the Switch was meant to see the release of The Chinese Room's latest game, Little Orpheus. However, the studio has announced that they will be delaying the launch of the game due to "recent world events", with no new date proposed.

The British studio — part of the Sumo Digital group — made the announcement on Twitter yesterday afternoon:

This charming little side-scrolling platformer first came out on Apple Arcade back in 2020, and it tells the story of a Soviet cosmonaut in 1962 who is dropped into a volcano and disappears for three years.

Our friends over at Eurogamer heaped praise on the game for its "colour, charm, and delightful dollops of humour" but due to the current conflict in Ukraine involving Russia, The Chinese Room has taken the decision to delay the release.

Various corners of the video game industry have come out in support of humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, with multiple studios releasing statements and making donations to various charities. We've also seen studios reduce their press and advertisements; you may remember that The Pokémon Company revealed the conflict as the reason its recent Direct wasn't heavily promoted beforehand.

These sorts of delays and muted announcements will likely continue over the coming weeks.

[source twitter.com]