Take-Two Interactive and Irrational Games have delayed BioShock Infinite's release to early next year -- which could give Take-Two room to ship Grand Theft Auto V this October instead.
Irrational Games' creative director Ken Levine claims the delay is due to improvements needed for the game, but some analysts believe Rockstar Games (also a Take-Two subsidiary) and its upcoming GTA V are to blame for the schedule change.
"We speculate that once Rockstar Games notified Take-Two that GTA V would be ready by October, Take-Two gave Irrational Games the option to spend more time fine-tuning BioShock Infinite," says Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter.
Macquarie analyst Ben Schachter adds, "We don't think that this is a coordinated move by the development teams, but we acknowledge the possibility. If GTA V does not hit the shelves for the December quarter, we think it will be unlikely to see both games launched in the March quarter."
By pushing BioShock Infinite's release into next year and putting out Grand Theft Auto V in its place, Take-Two can avoid having its two blockbuster games compete against each other during the holiday season. The distributor will also be able to focus its management and marketing teams, as well as its retail coordination efforts on one title at a time.
It's also worth noting that almost all prior GTA releases have shipped in October, and that Take-Two has not updated its earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013 -- Pachter says it's doubtful the company will achieve its guidance without a GTA release.
BioShock Infinite, first announced last summer and due to be published under Take-Two label 2K Games for the Xbox 360, PS3, and Windows PC, will now ship worldwide on February 26, 2013.
Though Rockstar hasn't revealed a release date or many details about GTA V yet, Take-Two could announce its release timing for the game as soon as May 22 when the company reports its earnings for the fourth quarter, or at E3 (June 5-7).
All I can hope for now is that the wait pays off. It has been hyped for a long time - long long time. Games like that either are awesome and we all love them. Or don't meet expectations and everyone hates on them for little reason other than it didn't reach the over imaginative minds while we waited.
GTA games rode high on a lot of "shock and awe" gameplay when they were first around. Now we see the exact same violent and crime ridden scenarios in all sorts of games. Mafia, Saint's Row, Crackdown, The Godfather etc. GTA is no longer special and it's not even evolving the gameplay it pioneered as well as the rest of these titles.
Hm I found BioShock overrated ever since the first one. While GTA might not evolve as much as you or I wish, BioShock never was anything special to me. People have played better, more complex games over a decade ago and when BS hit the shelves I found it as a child-version of those games. For modern purposes to please the masses and please those who aren't willing (or have no time) to really dive down into it. And well, BS2 was even worse... not much more as an ordinary shooter. So in that aspect both should deliver more in the future.
That makes me want to go back to bed.