Panic has delayed the release of the handheld Playdate until “early 2022”. The company writes this in an update. According to the manufacturer, the battery performed poorly in the first 5,000 completed models and a battery was selected from another supplier.
Make discovery panic In their own words After I started testing some Playdate units from an initial batch of 5000 units. It turned out that the battery life of some mobile devices was very disappointing and that some mobile devices could not turn on even after the battery ran out. Charging did not help, according to the manufacturer.
According to Panic, this was the starting signal for months of testing, after which it was decided to stop production and use a battery from another supplier. According to Panic, all the batteries for the first Playdate devices are now being replaced, so all customers will get a manual Playdate with a different battery than previously stated. According to Panic, this battery will meet expectations.
At the time of writing, the company is announcing “early 2022” as the date for the release of its first mobile devices, but it notes that it is feeling the effects of a global chip shortage. With modifications made to the motherboard for the Playdate handheld, it hopes to be able to use a different CPU and more readily available to Playdate and to avoid further delays in 2022.
Playdate was first announced in 2019 by Panic, the developer of the game Firewatch. The device was originally supposed to launch in 2020, but development has been delayed. mobile is Available for pre-order since July And it costs $179.