There’s some major disappointment today for enthusiastic gamers waiting for the March release of Max Payne 3. The launch of the highly-anticipated third person shooter game has now been delayed two months with the release put back to May 2012. Publisher Take-Two says this is to safeguard quality.

Rockstar Games is set to make a further announcement later today but only last month was detailing the research needed to ensure that the game, set in Sao Paulo, Brazil was as authentic as possible. It’s a blow for Take-Two and removing the launch from the current fiscal quarter means that a loss could now be reported for 2012 say the company.

CEO of Take-Two Strauss Zelnick said, “We do not take changes to our release schedule lightly, and this short delay will ensure that Max Payne 3 delivers the highest quality, groundbreaking entertainment experience that is expected from our Company,” according to CVG. Zelnick also assured though that Max Payne 3 could be one of their “most exciting” releases yet and said that players will be impressed by “Rockstar’s ability to take interactive entertainment to another level.”

The strength of the lineup of games due for fiscal 2013 was also stressed with some of those games being BioShock Infinite, Spec Ops: The Line, Enemy Unknown and Borderlands 2, plus others yet to be announced. Shrewdly the company failed to mention Grand Theft Auto V in that list of upcoming games but of course with that being one of the hottest games of the year the hype will build and build. Not mentioning it doesn’t mean it won’t come this year though so fingers crossed!

MCV seems to have obtained the actual release dates for the rescheduled launch of Max Payne 3 and says that in the UK it will hit shelves on May 18 for Xbox 360 and PS3 and on June 1 for the PC version. However, the many who were avidly awaiting the release in March of Max Payne 3 are bound to feel let down. If you look at the release delay logically though, it’s surely better that any problems are ironed out before the release, rather than have everyone complain afterwards? Send us your comments to let us know your thoughts on the release delay of Max Payne 3.

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