The game that was once 12 Minutes has apparently gone the “spell-it-all-out” route, now choosing to brand itself as Twelve Minutes. At E3 2021’s Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase, we finally got a Twelve Minutes release date, which let eager gamers know they’ll finally be able to experience this time-twisting adventure this summer.
You may remember Twelve Minutes as the game Microsoft showed off during E3 2019 — the last real, in-person E3 we had. It turns out there’s a bit more to this story, which we’ll cover along with everything else we know about the game.
The Twelve Minutes release date is Aug. 19, 2021
Originally scheduled to release sometime in 2020, Twelve Minutes missed that year entirely, leaving some fans feeling a little anxious. Fortunately, at E3 2021, we got word that the game was indeed almost ready. It’ll arrive in August, giving us all something new and interesting to play in a month that is typically pretty dry as far as new releases go. And it’ll launch directly into Xbox Game Pass, too, which is fantastic.
This game has been a long time in the making, as it was actually well into development before it ever saw the light of day on Microsoft’s E3 2019 stage. Creator Luis Antonio has been crafting this title since way back in 2015, when it appeared at PAX East. That is roughly six years of work, all culminating in this Aug. 19 release. Hopefully the wait will be worth it.
We know the premise of Twelve Minutes, but the story is still a mystery
Twelve Minutes is a game about a husband who lives the same 12-minute loop over and over again. He comes home to his wife; their romantic evening is quickly interrupted by a man who a) claims to be a police officer and b) accuses the wife of committing murder; and then the husband is beaten to death. After that, the loop restarts, and players must relive it again and again to try and peel away the layers and find clues as to what’s really going on.
The game has quite the star-studded cast. The husband is played by James McAvoy; the wife by Daisy Ridley; and the policeman by Willem Dafoe. For that reason, it has the feel of a big budget game, even though development only involved one person at first, and then a few more as time went on.
I’m super eager to check this one out when it arrives. Having it drop in the thick of summer is a great move, as there won’t be a whole lot around to compete with it for attention. We’ll have some thoughts on it after we’ve played it. Until then, we wait.
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