14 DAY TRIAL // Alpha Protocol has gone through delay after delay. The first time the game got a release date, it was expected to come out in February this year, but wind swirled over the 2009 winter and froze the title, which got delayed again and was eventually supposed to be released on October 6. The boy that cried wolf now cried Alpha Protocol and the game missed this launch date as well. Sega didn't even announce this last delay, they just failed to do anything with the game when the day came. And it's not like they didn't know that they wouldn't make the deadline because GameStop and Amazon changed the dates the game would become available for purchase on their sites.
Now, weeks after the game was delayed again, Sega has managed to regain composure and release a statement. The game gets a new release date and is now expected somewhere in 2010. Of course, they're trying to make it look like it's a good thing it got delayed once again. "Since the inception of Alpha Protocol, Sega has recognized the potential for the game to establish itself as an AAA title." said the newly installed COO and president of Sega of America, Masanao Maeda. "We've worked in conjunction with Obsidian Entertainment in making the decision to move Alpha Protocol’s ship date to spring 2010 to ensure that we have the best game possible at launch."
The developer of the game, Obsidian, is very satisfied with Sega's decision to accommodate their need to extend work on the project. "Alpha Protocol is a new take on the RPG genre and from day one the team has been working to make Alpha Protocol a truly unique game for players to experience," said Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart. "We're very happy that Sega has made the decision to hold back the shipment of the game in order to give it the best chance at becoming the publishing success that we at Obsidian and our partners at Sega are striving for."
The two companies seem to be all sugar and hugs, but no matter how permissive they are one with the other, at least one of them should be getting tired of these constant delays. The first time around the release date was postponed because of the Aliens-based RPG, but that turned out to be just another waste of time, since in the end the RPG was canceled altogether.