BioShock Infinite delayed, not showing at E3

Irrational Games Creative Director Ken Levine announced this morning that BioShock Infinite‘s release will be delayed until February 26, 2013.

The announcement was delivered as a friendly letter, stating that the company aims to tweak and improve the material they have in hand in order to really wow players with the final product. It also reminded its recipients that BioShock was delayed as it neared launch, and that Infinite is doing things never previously attempted in a first-person shooter.

More immediately disappointing is the fact that Irrational Games and 2K Games will not be showing BioShock Infinite at this year’s E3 Expo, which is only 27 days away, or at Gamescom later this summer. The reasoning behind this decision is that the companies want to focus on the final build rather than an intermediate step along the development path. There goes BioShock Infinite from our upcoming Games to Watch at E3 feature. Womp womp.

The full letter:

A MESSAGE FROM KEN LEVINE

When we announced the release date of BioShock Infinite in March, we felt pretty good about the timing.

Since then, we’ve come to realize that some specific tweaks and improvements will 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.

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 have exactly the right swing. Because Rapture needed one more coat of grimy Art Deco.

The same principle now applies to BioShock Infinite.

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. Irrational Games is one of those rare developers lucky enough to ask the people who sign the checks: “Hey, can we have a few more of those checks?”

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.