Strategy game The Banner Saga 2 is coming to consoles much sooner than expected.
Originally planned to launch on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on July 26th, it was revealed that the game will actually arrive on Xbox on July 1st and on PS4 on July 5th.
“We originally planned to launch later in the month. However, because of the combined effort of our friends at Sony and the hard work by the team at Shiny Shoe, we are able to bring this to you much sooner,” Community Director at Versus Evil, Lance James, wrote on the PlayStation Blog. “Stoic wanted people to kickstart their Summer off right and jumped at the chance to get the second game in the hands of PS4 owners.”
The deal gets sweeter though: Banner Saga 2 is one of the free Games with Gold on Xbox Live during the month of July, allowing Xbox Gold members to play it for free, downloadable anytime between July 1st and July 31st.
However, PlayStation 4 members aren’t being completely left out on this one – those who choose to play this sequel on their PS4 will receive a unique in-game item named “Playful Hilt of Arnr.” This item will give you a +3 all talent rank and a +20% double strength damage.
James added that The Banner Saga 2 can be fully enjoyed by those who have never played the first title.