Disaster Strikes: Max Payne 3 Delayed Until May

It's gaming season again and without the impending holidays to influence release dates, the delays can begin once again. This morning, Rockstar Games, in conjunction with Take Two, announced that Max Payne 3 would miss its initial launch window of March 2012 and would instead be hitting store shelves on May 15th.

What does this mean for Max? I would wager that this announcement has little to do with the game's quality and more with avoiding a cut throat sales battle with another certain high-profile release that is coming out in March. Rather than allow Mass Effect 3 sales to cut into Max Payne 3 sales, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the company opted for a cleaner release window that would also allow them a few extra months to provide some additional polish.

The only point of concern would be that Take Two opted out of a profitable fiscal year by delaying the game and actually took a loss instead. This fact may be a cause for concern but given the incredible year they are poised to have next year, I don't think they should be too worried. With Max Payne 3, Grand Theft Auto V, XCOM (That's actually 2 XCOM titles!), and Bioshock Infinite all scheduled for release during that window, I think it is safe to say that Take Two will be just fine in the coming months.