Prototype delayed until 2009

By Ellie Gibson Published 6 May, 2008

More time needed to deliver.

Sierra has confirmed its third-person open-world game Prototype has been delayed until next year.

In a statement issued to Eurogamer the publisher said, "Sierra Entertainment and Radical Entertainment have made the decision to shift Prototype to launch in 2009.

"Since its announcement, Prototype has been regarded by many as groundbreaking and taking the open-world genre in new directions, and in the simplest explanation possible, we need more time to deliver the game the team initially set out to create."

In development for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, Prototype was first announced last year and given a 'summer 2008' release date. But now that's changed, and it's not clear exactly when in 2009 the game will now launch.

"Date changes are common in this industry, especially for publishers and developers committed to launching great games," observed Sierra. "Further details on Prototype's 2009 launch timing will be revealed at a later date."

The game certainly looked to be shaping up nicely when we saw it at Sierra's recent Spring Break event - read the full preview for more.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (17) Latest comment 4 years ago

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  • Xerx3s #1 4 years ago

    "Since its announcement, Prototype has been regarded by many as groundbreaking and taking the open-world genre in new directions"

    Oh?

  • Inquisitor #2 4 years ago

    Didn't expect that, but didn't they cut the multiplayer recently as well?

    The game must have been getting a little out of hand, too many features cut. Wouldn't surprise me if they took a look at GTA and thought they needed to tighten up their act too.

  • syphaa #3 4 years ago

    Shame. Probably half related to giving GTA some more time on the streets...
    With the extra dev time it would be nice if they re-introduced the co-op they have supposedly scrapped!

  • Beano #4 4 years ago

    No surprise - the videoes looked like...a prototype.

  • BravoGolf #5 4 years ago

    Wow, must be a big reason for the delay of that length. Thing is, the game looks decent now but it runs the risk of being overtaken by much better looking games in the meantime

  • Spazzfish #6 4 years ago

    Good now put co-op back in the game please

  • Olemak #7 4 years ago

    "Summer 2008" obviously belongs to GTA IV anyway. Smart move.

    The first of many GTA-related reschedules (and cancellations) I believe. Rockstar have pushed the envelope pretty far this time; it affects the expectations of similar games such as this.

  • Quint2020 #8 4 years ago

    "Good now put co-op back in the game please"

    What he said.

  • Vin #9 4 years ago

    Bugger.

    Was looking forward to this as I can't be fucked with GTA.

  • muscleblade #10 4 years ago

    Great news. This usually means a much better game when released. If GTAIV was released in October it wouldnt have been as good as it is.

  • Prodigy_BE #11 4 years ago

    Waaw, a new game from the guys that brought us the braindead Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.
    And yes, you can destroy everything.

    Big deal.

    /Goes back to sleep on his desk

  • aldo_14 #12 4 years ago

    Oh poo, I was looking forward to this in the absence of a PC GTA IV

  • Nithron #13 4 years ago

    That's a shame, I like the original(or at least, relatively original) approach this game was taking.

    It does leave me wondering though... Why do game developers seem to think that memories are stored in DNA? Assassin's Creed made this really weird assumption too. It's just not the case, and I know it makes me sound like a total nerd, but it always kinda ruins the storyline for me when they just get something so blatantly wrong.

    Like superman turning back time by flying the wrong way around the world, for example...

  • Ryze #14 4 years ago

    Yep - they need to compete with GTA IV, plus get the PS3 version above 20fps.

  • paulf #15 4 years ago

    @nithron - isn't that the essence of science fiction? to take a theory then extrapolate it to make a good narrative device have a look at <a href = "http://en .wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_memory">this</a&g t; for more on genetic memory - I do agree it spoiled the story of assassins creed though, that was a game that really didnt need the sci fi twist

    as for prototype you can just see their faces when they fired up gta4 last tuesday

  • Mindstorm #16 4 years ago

    GTA is so huge it's going to overshadow any similar game for very long time. That is a wise decision from a commercial perspective.

  • DAN.E.B #17 4 years ago

    Wouldn't surprise me if they took a look at GTA and thought they needed to tighten up their act too.

    yeah but rockstar could have tightened their act up a bit with GTA
    same old problems no mid mision check points
    constant driving back to start missions and get health maybe they should have looked at how saints row done it
    the games starting to really annoy me!