Take-Two has decided to move Bioshock 2’s release to the first half of 2010, primarily citing the need for more development time.
Take-Two’s chairman, Strauss Zelnick, stated, “We recognize that our revised outlook for the balance of fiscal year 2009, due to both internal and external factors, is a disappointment. That said, we concluded that moving the release of BioShock 2 into fiscal year 2010 was the right decision for the product. We believe the result will be a more compelling consumer experience and a better performing product in the marketplace. At the same time, near term retail conditions have proven to be more challenging for our business than the assumptions built into our prior outlook.”
For those of you not comfortable with business speak: Zelnick doesn’t blame anyone for being disappointed, but feels the time really is necessary and that perhaps the timing is better anyway, due to the recession. Not entirely a hard line to swallow.
Take-Two’s CEO, Ben Feder, agreed: “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.”
A tough delay for sure, but if they must, they must.