Originally planned for release in “international territories” (including SA) on October 30 2009, Take-Two has come forward and announced in a conference call that the sequel to 2007’s classic psychological thriller/first person shooter will only be out next year.
The original release date had the title going head to head with a number of high profile releases, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and possibly Starcraft 2. While many argued that the games are all so different that they will not be in competition with each other, they do share one fundamental similarity: they all cost money.
Most gamers will be limited to the amount of games they can purchase over this period. The Christmas rush may offer an impressive boost in game sales, but having the market so saturated over this period generally waters down the sales figures of each individual title.
Mirror’s Edge and Dead Space were two excellent games that were released late in 2008 and both achieved disappointing sales figures over the Christmas period.
It would seem that Take-Two has realized their folly in competing for the Christmas rush and has moved the release of the title back.
“We concluded that moving the release of BioShock 2 into fiscal year 2010 was the right decision for the product,” said Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick. “We believe the result will be a more compelling consumer experience and a better performing product in the marketplace.”
Take-Two has announced that the game will be released in “the first half of calendar 2010”, so anytime between January and June.
In a related incident, the much anticipated PS3 exclusive ‘Heavy Rain’ has also be pushed back into 2010 due to the oversaturation of the game market during the Christmas rush.
Thankfully it looks like at least some developers learned from the mistakes of major publishers in 2008. EA was the first to admit to overdoing it over this period and relying on the Christmas rush to boost sales.
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