News: Gamers will have to wait until 2010 to play all of these games now.
Three games that were coming in late 2009 have now been pushed back to early 2010 as game makers are finally beginning to realize that major games can be released at other points in the year besides right before Christmas.
First up, Quantic Dream co-CEO Guillaume de Fondaumiere has talked to GamesIndustry.biz and confirmed that E3 no-show Heavy Rain will be released on the PlayStation 3 in 2010:
GI.biz: So the game has a 2010 release - is that because you don't want to put it out in the busy pre-Christmas period, or was that the timing planned all along?
Guillaume de Fondaumiere: We've always known that we had a window to release the game, and it's important for us to finish it the right way. We've got some margin either way, to some degree, but again I think there's a responsibility, and we don't want to deceive - so it's important for the game to be polished up until the last minute.
Also, purely from my perspective, most publishers today realise that it's not ideal to release a new IP or a new genre just before Christmas. It's a very crowded place to be, and certain games need more space to live their life. Everybody at working on the project, both at Quantic and Sony, believe this is the right time.
Next up, Activision has announced that Raven Software's
Singularity (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) will be released in early 2010 so that it doesn't have to compete with
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2:
"The level of excitement for Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 coming out of E3 well exceeded our expectations and therefore we have decided to move Raven's upcoming sci-fi first person action title, Singularity, from 2009 to Q1 2010. We believe that the March quarter will provide a better opportunity to establish the new cutting-edge action IP as a 'must-have' title and clears the way for Modern Warfare 2 to dominate this holiday season."
Finally, online retailers such as Amazon, GameStop, Gamefly and others now list Namco Bandai's
Dead to Rights: Retribution with an early 2010 release date. Previously, the PS3 and Xbox 360 title had been scheduled for a late 2009 release.
We'll have more on all three of these titles soon.