Max Payne 3 Delayed to May for Unknown Reasons

Max Payne 3 was supposed to come out this March, but as Rockstar is one of those companies that can pretty much do whatever they want regarding release dates, the game has been delayed to May 2012. The third title in the Max Payne franchise will have a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version which will come out on May 15 in North America. The European release on the other hand is scheduled to May 18. Additionally, the PC version of Max Payne 3 is coming out on May 19 in North America and June 1 in Europe. The reason for the delay hasn’t been provided yet but I don’t think many people will think this is particularly surprising, especially considering that Rockstar has always launched its games around the month of May (Red Dead Redemption and L.A. Noire are two clear examples.)


But this delay will also have serious consequences as Take Two (Rockstar Games’ parent company) has stated that they are expecting to report a net loss for its fiscal year of about $210-$230 million. Nevertheless, delaying the game may not be such a terrible decision as these are some of the titles that are coming out in March 2012: Mass Effect 3, Street Fighter X Tekken, Silent Hill HD Collection, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, Ninja Gaiden 3 and maybe Diablo III (yeah right, like that’s ever going to happen.) Apart from all these games coming out there are many other smaller releases and even though a Rockstar game always has the potential to compete with other important titles, maybe this is a risk that the New York-based company is not willing to take.

Max Payne 3 is being developed by Rockstar Games’ Vancouver studio which has previously worked on popular titles such as Bully and Bully: Scholarship Edition. Moreover and as its name indicates, Max Payne 3 will be the third iteration in the beloved series and it’ll be a direct continuation of the second game. The title was first announced six years after Max Payne 2 and at one point during the development cycle the Vancouver studio replaced Remedy Entertainment which had previously been in charge of the first two titles in the franchise and is currently working on Alan Wake’s American Nightmare. Since then, the game has changed both stylistically and from a gameplay perspective, becoming a little more modern, so for example the main character can now use human shields, dual wield two different weapons, destroy parts of the environment, take cover behind certain objects and more. Finally, a multiplayer of some form will be featured which will have traditional modes, clan support and other standard options.

For more information about the game please read my preview article.

Source: GameSpot