As we reported earlier this year, the new Neo Geo AES+ console was planned to be released worldwide this November.
However, that release date has now been “revised” to September 16, 2027, some 10 months later.
Pre-orders for the Neo Geo AES+ remain open, and orders that have already been placed will remain valid. There is also no increase to the previously announced SRP of the console, which is something to be thankful for, considering the huge price increases we’ve seen on the mainstream consoles over recent months.
Plaion Replai says that it: “recognizes that this is a significant delay and sincerely apologises to everyone who has been looking forward to receiving their NEOGEO AES+. The company is enormously grateful for the patience and support shown by the community and does not take that support for granted. The team shares the disappointment of fans and remains completely focused on delivering the NEOGEO AES+ experience they expect and deserve,” adding: “Since announcing the NEOGEO AES+, PLAION REPLAI has been working with manufacturing partners to increase production capacity. However, unprecedented worldwide demand for memory chips, driven by investment in AI infrastructure, has created well documented industry-wide supply constraints. Rather than proceed with the previously planned November launch with severely constrained worldwide availability, PLAION REPLAI has chosen to take additional time to secure the component supply that is now needed to meet the demand of pre-order customers and a substantially larger worldwide release. The additional time will allow PLAION REPLAI to secure the component supply and manufacturing capacity required not just for launch, but to support NEOGEO AES+ over the long term.”
So, this is something else we can blame AI for, before it eventually reaches its natural and inevitable conclusion of destroying humanity!
Ben Jones, Commercial Director at Plaion Replai, said: “This isn’t the announcement we hoped to make, but the response from the gaming community has been incredible. The level of enthusiasm for NEOGEO AES+ has given us the confidence to think much bigger about the future of the platform. With that comes a responsibility to deliver the launch properly.”
Jones continues: “We explored every option to maintain our original timetable. In the end, we concluded that launching with severely constrained availability would not be fair to our community. Taking additional time allows us to secure more memory chips while expanding our manufacturing. Most importantly, everyone who has already pre-ordered keeps their priority place in the production queue. Had we launched in November, we would not have been able to deliver NEOGEO AES+ to customers at anything close to the scale we believe the community deserves. The truth is that demand far exceeded even our most optimistic expectations. The retro gaming community truly is fantastic.”
As you might expect, the response from customers has been one of cynical disappointment, with one user on Facebook quipping: “So it would be the 36th anniversary edition?”
You can find more information on the Nego Geo AES+ on the Plaion Replai website.
