Gang Beasts-meets-Stardew Valley farming game Southfield delays release date three days before launch to look after devs’ ‘health and wellbeing’

Southfield emerged earlier this year as a unique blend of a physics sandbox game like Gang Beasts or Human: Fall Flat with a farming/management simulation game similar to Stardew Valley or Satisfactory. The vibrant game was originally scheduled for release this upcoming Monday, but the developers at Radical Forge have decided to postpone the launch indefinitely in order to prioritize the “health and well-being of our team”.

Southfield allows players to explore the titular island, either solo or in co-op, where they can engage in agriculture, plant crops, manage their harvest, and gradually develop their farmer’s home into a thriving settlement. Players will need to navigate the unpredictable nature of the crops, the island’s changing weather, and fend off hostile Ruffians who may raid their farm at night.

After conducting a closed beta and offering a demo during Steam’s Next Fest event in February, Southfield was set to launch into early access on June 24th. However, just three days before the planned release, Radical Forge announced the delay to address performance issues discovered during the beta testing phase and to ensure the well-being of their team.

“We have been working tirelessly to ensure that Southfield meets the high standards that our community deserves,” the developers stated. “However, it has become clear that we cannot achieve this without compromising the health and well-being of our team.”

To see this content please enable targeting cookies.

Manage cookie settings

“With a small team, the last thing we want is to put enormous pressure on them to fix these issues for launch and beyond – safeguarding our devs is very important to us,” they added in a Steam blog post. “We also don’t want to release a game that isn’t ready.”

For now, no new release date has been announced, with the Middleborough studio stating that they will provide an updated early access date “ASAP”.

“Thank you for your continued patience and support during this challenging time,” they expressed. “This is an incredibly hard decision for us to make, but we are confident it will lead to us making the game something truly special and that reflects the passion we’ve felt since the announcement from you.”