The delay was announced back in October last year. Talk about a delayed explanation.
Ah, Alpha Protocol, are you a cousin of Alan Wake? The Obsidian Entertainment-developed espionage RPG was supposed to be one of the bigger releases last year, but ended up being mysteriously punted to the Spring of 2010, with little explanation on the part of both the developer and publisher.
Talking to MTV’s Multiplayer Blog, Sega revealed that the delay was approved to let Obsidian bring the overall quality of their game upwards. Specifically, the inventory screen has been revamped so as to allow comparing equipped equipment with… well, unequipped equipment. Also some lighting tweaks and other stuff you won’t notice.
While that sounds reasonable enough, I reckon the real reason was competition and rivalry with BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins. The game includes the convenience to compare equipment as is described in the Sega explanation, so it’s pretty clear that they decided they had to be a step ahead of Dragon Age.
But fans of Obsidian Entertainment will appreciate the gesture all the same. Everyone knows how LucasArts’ haste to release Knights of the Old Republic II early ended up creating a half-cooked, buggy game that could have so much more. Let Obsidian take their time, they can do some incredible stuff.
What’s that? You heard me there, Sega? I think they did, they also bumped the date from the vague “Spring 2010” to the equally vague “Summer 2010”. Oh well, whatever it takes. It’s not like we have any lack of role-playing games to play till then.