Bioshock 2 delayed until next year

Take-Two have announced that Bioshock 2’s release date has officially been pushed back from the intended ‘Early Novmber’ timescale.  The publisher said that the highly-anticipated sequel will now appear on store shelves at some point “in the first half of 2010”, and that the decision had been made to “provide additional development time to the title.”

Take-Two CEO Ben Feder stated, “The decision to shift a release date is never an easy one, especially with a product as highly anticipated as BioShock 2. We felt that it was essential to invest the additional time to ensure that this title will deliver what its fans expect and deserve.”

He continued, “As a result, we will now be launching sequels to several of our strongest franchises – including BioShock 2, Mafia II, Max Payne 3 and Red Dead Redemption – during the next fiscal year.”

Whatever the excuse, it may be an indication that publishers are realising that releasing all of their best games at the same time might not be the most productive strategy, and that good titles will still sell well when launched outside of the Christmas rush.

Or you could simply blame it on the unnecessary addition of multiplayer, perhaps?