BioShock Infinite delayed till 2013

No Bioshock Infinite for you in 2012. Play Diablo 3 instead.

We really haven't kept up with Bioshock Infinite since it was originally announced, but Irrational Games sent over an email reporting that the third installment won't hit store shelves until 2013. The news arrives straight from Ken Levine who also states that the game won't be shown at big events this year like E3 2012 and Gamescom either.

For the full brunt of bad news, here's the entire letter:

"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."

BioShock Infinite was one of the most anticipated games of the year. That's OK: we'll be busy playing Diablo 3 anyway.

Source: Tomsguide

Tags: Pc games, Diablo 3, BioShock Infinite

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Diablo 3 Beta Weekend Reached 300,000 Concurrent Players

Blizzard's first public test brought 300,000 concurrent players and lots of problems to the Diablo 3 servers.


Blizzard's community manager "Bashiok" claims on Twitter that the number of concurrent users playing the Diablo 3 beta over the weekend peaked at 300,000 gamers. The total number of users test-driving the highly-anticipated Diablo sequel is currently unknown, but Bashiok said it was "a lot."

The purpose of the beta weekend was to see how the servers could handle the load all at once. Given that fans have waited since 2000's Diablo 2 for another installment, it's only natural to assume that every single fan was waiting for the doors to swing open on Friday, especially those who didn't make it into the closed beta. Just imagine a mad crowd waiting for the doors to open on Black Friday, and you'll understand why Blizzard wants to be fully prepared for May 15.

"Every time we tried to log in this weekend and failed, we were doing our part to help Blizzard,"Forbes reports, describing its difficulties in loggin into the game and staying connected during the flood of anxious gamers. "This would help explain why their response to all inquiries was “keep trying.” They wanted people to copy/paste their passwords every four seconds and try to log in. That’s exactly the sort of 'stress' they need to test."

"Shortly after the beta opened up on Friday, fans were greeted with login errors - particularly server full errors," GameZone states. "Error 37 was the most frequent as servers reached their capacity. According to Blizzard, 'this was likely due to us lowering the concurrency cap to address an issue or error.'"

The public beta reportedly contained the same content seen in the closed beta: access to the five characters, and a portion of Act I which concludes by defeating the Skeleton King. The difference was that it only allowed characters to level up to 13. But like the closed beta testers, all characters will be killed off once the actual retail version goes live on May 15. Bummer, we know.

With the beta weekend now over, does that mean the Diablo 3 Starter Edition was more than a mistaken beta client? Probably not. As reported last week, those who downloaded and played the leaked client was asked to purchase the full game. What's possible is that Blizzard provided the Starter Edition to beta testers for the weekend stress test, but turned off the nag screen and activated other limitations like level caps and more.

That said, it wouldn't be surprising to see the actual Starter Edition launch before the full version goes retail in order to see how the servers handle the load over a longer period. Yet Blizzard didn't take that route with StarCraft 2, so we may have to wait until May 15 before he get a taste of Diablo 3 again. Let's hope not.

Source: Tomshardware

Tags: Pc games, Diablo 3

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