Mass Effect 3 Delayed To 2012

Fans of BioWare's Mass Effect franchise are already eager to play the final instalment in the science-fiction video game trilogy, but it turns out they'll have to wait a bit longer than expected: Mass Effect 3 was originally set for release this Winter, but has now been confirmed for release in the first three months of 2012 instead. Why the extended wait? Executive producer Casey Hudson said that "the development team is laser focused on making sure Mass Effect 3 is the biggest, boldest and best game in the series, ensuring that it exceeds everyone's expectations", and while that's hardly consolation to the millions of followers who already had the highly anticipated sequel on their Christmas lists, it at least reassures us that the developer don't want to release it until they have the best possible product, and given the superb quality of ME2 that means we can expect something big to kick start a year that so far seems relatively devoid of big gaming releases. Obviously that means I'll have to adjust my 'Most Anticipated Games Of 2011' list accordingly, which I'll do after the hiatus (I'll signal when that's starting, by the way), but before then the Official Xbox Magazine will be publishing their first reveal of the game next Monday, so look out for all the new info right here in the next week.