Piranha Games announces the release of MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is being delayed by three months, and the mech combat sequel is now expected on December 10th. The game was first announced for launch in 2018, but about a year ago Piranha pushed this out to this year, later specifying a September 10th launch. The news also confirms recent speculation that the release will be exclusive to the Epic Games Store. To help deal with blowback from the delay and the EGS news, they also announce they are offering preorder customers full refunds between now and September 1st. This comes with a warning that customers who accept a refund will forfeit their right to participate in closed beta testing planned for November and will lose their exclusive DLC bonuses, though they will be able to retain all bonus MechWarrior Online content they received. Here's a FAQ that covers the game, its new release date, Epic Games Store exclusivity, refunds, and the closed beta. Word is they will also be holding a Town Hall session later today and another tomorrow:

Developer Piranha Games today announced that MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, the classic series’ first single player campaign-focused entry in more than 17 years, will now drop into battle on December 10th exclusively on the Epic Games store. Community preorder pilots will be able to run practice missions in November via a closed beta ahead of the game’s full launch.

“Our partnership with the Epic Games store allows Piranha the opportunity to make sure MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries meets our internal goal of creating the best MechWarrior game possible,” said Russ Bullock, executive producer. “Since we announced the development of the first single-player MechWarrior game in 17 years, we have stated that our goal was to deliver to fans a MechWarrior: Mercenaries experience with true freedom of choice and to be able to share that experience in a coop setting.

Understandably some fans will be disappointed that they have to wait a short while longer for MechWarrior 5, but it’s important to Piranha Games that we absolutely get this right. We are happy to say that our new partnership with Epic Games store allows us the time and ability to accomplish our goals both in the games development and marketing efforts.”

Fans looking to obtain refunds from their preorder of any tier are able to do so by September 1st. Preorder refunds of any tier will be refunded in full. Additionally, fans seeking refunds will be able to keep all bonus MechWarrior Online content from the Standard, Collector and Ultimate Editions of the preorder, which amount to $100, $180, and $300 dollars worth of in-game currency and content for MechWarrior Online including all bonus items like XP, premium time, badges, decals, cockpit items and more, depending on which preorder tier they purchased. Refunded preorders will be unable to participate in the upcoming closed beta for MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, now scheduled for November as well as lose the exclusive MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries DLC items.

More detailed information on announced features coming to MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries can be found at the game’s FAQ: https://mw5mercs.com/faq.

Piranha Games will host two Town Hall sessions this week: The first begins tonight at 6:00 p.m. PT for fans located in North America, and the second Town Hall is scheduled for 10 a.m. PT tomorrow, July 26th, for fans located in Europe. Both events will take place on the community preorder Discord. Fans are encouraged to join the conversation and voice their thoughts.

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is modeled after the gameplay style from MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries, granting players the freedom to run their campaigns how they choose. In MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, pilots will build, manage, and guide their own mercenary unit through a multi-year campaign during the sprawling Third and Fourth Succession Wars enjoying by far the greatest amount of player freedom and choice compared to past titles.

Whether braving missions alone, alongside AI-controlled pilots, or with the help of up to three friends via co-op play, pilots will face complicated situations with no perfect solution as they choose which contracts to accept, where in the Inner Sphere to direct their attention, and how to balance repairs or upgrades with maintaining their unit’s precious resources.

To stay locked onto the latest MechWarrior news, visit the MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries (https://mw5mercs.com/) and MechWarrior Online (https://mwomercs.com/) websites, or follow Piranha Games on Twitter through @PiranhaGames (https://twitter.com/piranhagames) and @MechWarriorF2P (https://twitter.com/Mechwarriorf2p).