BioShock Infinite Delayed To 2013 — Cue Sad Pandas

Well I can’t say I didn’t see this coming but damn does it cut deep. Too emo?

2K Games has delayed BioShock Infinite’s release to February 26, 2013 instead of October as originally intended.

“When we announced the release date of BioShock Infinite in March, we felt pretty good about the timing,” said Irrational Games creative director Ken Levine.

“Since then, we’ve uncovered opportunities to make Infinite into something even more extraordinary. Therefore, to give our talented team the time they need, we’ve decided to move the game’s release to February 26, 2013. We wanted to let our loyal (and very patient!) fans know this as soon as possible.”

Adam‘s currently curled up in the foetal position as we speak.

“I won’t kid you: BioShock Infinite is a very big game, and we’re doing things that no one has ever done in a first-person shooter. We had a similar experience with the original BioShock, which was delayed several months as our original ship date drew near. Why? Because the Big Daddies weren’t the Big Daddies you’ve since come to know and love. Because Andrew Ryan’s golf club didn’t exactly have the right swing. Because Rapture needed one more coat of grimy Art Deco.”

He added: “The same principle now applies to BioShock Infinite.”

Fair enough, after all many — myself included — consider BioShock to be the poster game for the “games as art” debate. Not too pretentious but perfectly executed, with just the right atmospheric setting to perfectly convey an immersive and believable world. Also that plot twist.

“What does this mean for you? It means a bit more waiting, but more importantly, it means an even better BioShock Infinite. The great can be made greater, and we owe it to both ourselves and to you, our fans, to take this opportunity.”

It gets worse…

“We are also going to hold off on showing BioShock Infinite at the big events of the summer, like E3 and Gamescom. That way, the next time you see our game, it will be essentially the product we intend to put in the box. Preparing for these events takes time away from development, time we’re going to use instead to get the best version of Infinite into your hands in February.”

Fair enough, I mean if there’s any developer we can trust with extra time (but not as much as Valve and Blizzard usually need) then it has to be Irrational Games, so by all means we will wait patiently while you perfect that game and then would you all kindly shut up and take our money when you release the final product.

That said, my gaming year is more or less done as far as new releases are concerned, and I’m now certain that Mass Effect 3 is the year’s only Game of the Year contender, I just don’t see anything other than Infinite that could have competed.

Meanwhile, other gamers’ reactions will no doubt be something like this: