Analogue Pocket Delayed Again As COVID Challenges Mount

Analogue announced today that the release of its upcoming Pocket handheld has been delayed once more. Originally slated to begin shipping at some point in 2020, the Pocket was first pushed back to May 2021 and then again to some point in October. With September here and October on the horizon, Analogue has announced one more delay for the highly anticipated FPGA handheld.

"Pocket pre-orders will be shipping at the latest in December," Analogue wrote on its website today. "Unfortunately, due to new Covid restrictions with our assembly partners, their capacity to deliver within our agreed timeframe has been affected. This has created a domino effect of delays beyond our control in what would otherwise be a seamless process."

Beyond shipping out existing pre-orders by December at the latest, Analogue says that the Pocket and its accessories will be restocked after the holiday season and will be "shipping immediately." What's unknown is if there will be another pre-order phase before the store is restocked following the holidays.

Analogue says that it is sending everyone who pre-ordered a Pocket an email – presumably with this information – so if that's you, be sure to check your inbox. It also sounds like those who pre-ordered can get a full refund for their order if they don't want to wait for Pocket to launch.

For retro game collectors, the Pocket is an exciting handheld because it's built on two FPGAs and can play a multitude of handheld games. Out of the box, the Pocket supports Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games, but there are also adapters that will allow it to play Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket, and Atari Lynx games. We'll let you know when Analogue shares more about the Pocket's launch, so stay tuned for additional details.