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.

Comments

  • Avatar
    JTC545
    12 years, 10 months ago

    WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME LORD

  • Avatar
    MrChainsaw
    12 years, 10 months ago

    The day of my birthday, nice!
    This means I have more time to run through the other Max Payne games, which I'm OK with. And you never know, the game delay might be for the better.

  • Avatar
    Greg the Keg
    12 years, 10 months ago

    That's 4 out of the last 5 years that Rockstar's big release came out in May (give or take a couple of days).

    2008... GTA IV (April 29th)
    2010... Red Dead Redemption (May 18th)
    2011... L.A. Noire (Rockstar published, May 17th)
    2012... Max Payne 3 (May 15th)

  • Avatar
    jon2435
    12 years, 10 months ago

    Well the better release window will help sells. Still though, companies need to get better at announcing release dates.

  • Avatar
    hfsyei
    12 years, 10 months ago

    hey nick i think the universe wants you to play max payne 1 and 2.
    play them on the pc - those are the better versions - and look better now that then

  • Avatar
    Jack Claxton
    12 years, 10 months ago

    Im not worried about the push back. Its for the best. However, the fact that the PC version will get delayed a further two weeks after the new console date fucks me off beyond no end.

  • Avatar
    lemith
    12 years, 10 months ago

    Dang it.

  • Avatar
    Cobolt3
    12 years, 10 months ago

    Fortunately, this gives me a larger window to get my Collectors's Edition preorder in.