Mercenaries 2 officially delayed News • News • Eurogamer.net

News PC PlayStation 2 Xbox 360 PlayStation 3

Battlefield: Bad Company late too.

Electronic Arts has confirmed that shooter Mercenaries 2: World in Flames has been delayed.

The game is currently in development for PC, PS2, PS3 and Xbox 360. Recent rumours had it down for a February release, but EA told Eurogamer there would be no sign of it "within the next few months".

Now big boss John Riccitiello has confirmed the delay, stating Mercs 2 will be out in fiscal year 2009 - in other words, some time after 1st April. PS3 and Xbox 360 title Battlefield: Bad Company will also be late.

"We have made the decision to move Battlefield: Bad Company and Mercenaries 2 into fiscal 2009," Riccitiello said. "Both titles are looking great and we believe with additional polish we will build a better consumer experience and thereby maximise our economics."

No pain, no gain, apparently. "When I came back to EA I made a commitment to investing in quality, both because I think it's the right decision for the long-term financial health of the company and because it is what our consumers have a right to expect. This is an important principle, even if it results in short-term pain." OW.

Riccitiello's comments came as part of a conference call following the publication of EA's third quarter financial results. The company made a net loss of USD 33 million (GBP oh just half it), compared to a net income of USD 160 million during the same period last year.

Still, Need for Speed: Pro Street, FIFA 08, The Simpsons Game, Madden's Funny Old Football Game, The Sims 2 Castaway and NBA LIVE 08 all sold well. EA had also shifted 1.5 million copies of Rock Band by the end of December.

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Comments (17) Latest comment 4 years ago

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Milbe #1 4 years ago

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take your time and make it proper. mercs is still the best sand box game in my book.
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BadBoyBonner #2 4 years ago

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"Pro Street, FIFA 08, The Simpsons Game, Madden's Funny Old Football Game, The Sims 2 Castaway and NBA LIVE 08"

Pure gaming gold, can't understand how they lost $33 million releasing those gems.
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asphaltcowboy #3 4 years ago

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Good stuff, sometimes it's necessary for delays to happen - providing the result is good!
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JonFE #4 4 years ago

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"Pure gaming gold, can't understand how they lost $33 million releasing those gems."

Could it be that studio acquisitions (e.g. Bioware) are responsible for the loss, rather than games???
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Sir_TimAlot #5 4 years ago

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Agreed, Mercenaries is still one of my fav games and still really looking forward to Mercs 2, plenty of other stuff to be playing until then.
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Clive_Dunn #6 4 years ago

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"When I came back to EA I made a commitment to investing in quality"

Is the link to the review of NFL Tour on this page a subtle dig then ?
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BadBoyBonner #7 4 years ago

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JonFE - I was being ironic - unfortunately all those shoddy games mentioned sold in bucket loads.

[link url=http://www.euroinvestor.c o.uk/news/shownewsstory.aspx?storyid=9718077&BW=200801310061 50
]http://ww w.euroinvestor.co.uk/news/shown...[/link]

Euroinvestor gives quite a good breakdown of what did what for EA for anyone that is interested.

Gross profit for the quarter was actually $721 million.

Edited by 1 at 01/02/08 @ 10:11
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crozon #8 4 years ago

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From [link url=http://shackn ews.com/onearticle.x/51081
]http://shackn ews.com/onearticle.x/51081
[/link]

while EA didn't make much money last year, there is some good news Crysis, remember the bad seller, has hit 1million copies sold.

now back to the subject in hand hurry up with mercs, i wanna play it bad.
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Triggerhappytel #9 4 years ago

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John Riccitiello - "When I came back to EA I made a commitment to investing in quality"

Admittedly they still have their fair share of stinkers, but EA are probably the best publishing and development company at the moment that they have ever been. I wonder how responsible for that this guy is.
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Mr_Brown #10 4 years ago

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Not too surprised, though I'm glad they're taking their time on it.

I agree, EA have improved drastically interms of quality. Sure they're still creating shovelware, but all credit to them for improving so much.
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agparrot #11 4 years ago

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Loved Mercenaries - would be a real shame for the delay to bring the sequel out too close to GTA IV, or it is just going to get lost, and it potentially deserves exposure to a much wider audience.

Got to love blasting around the countryside in your 4WD/tank of choice, only to find a pitched battle going on between rival factions, and plunging in to help or hinder as you see fit.

/hopes for Russian Mafia.
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urban #12 4 years ago

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no surprise.
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grantc7 #13 4 years ago

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I have to admit I am a little bit annoyed at this as it is the second time it has been officially delayed (or perhaps because I enjoyed the first mercs so much).
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Kropotkin #14 4 years ago

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Autumn release for both of those then...
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SomaticSense #15 4 years ago

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"We have made the decision to move Battlefield: Bad Company and Mercenaries 2 into fiscal 2009,"

What's with all this 'fiscal' bollocks. I had enough of that at work. Why not just give us an estimate of the actual year it might be out.

That's besides the fact that "fiscal 2009" is actually the majority of 2008, which makes using the term '2009' look stupid. Fair enough, it might be important to them and the way the execs and their accountants work out their finances, but why the insistence on using it in PR statements to the public? How is that worthy to anyone outside their company? Especially when it differs from company to company.
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Diabeu #16 4 years ago

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kurwa mać
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rodpad #17 4 years ago

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Mercenaries was shit.
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