Due to a request from Sony Europe for “minor content changes” to the PAL PS3 version of Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City, Rockstar has delayed the worldwide launch of both the PC and PS3 versions of the game from March 30th to April 13th in North America and April 16th internationally. This delay also applies to the digital download PSN and Games For Windows Live releases of the individual episodes, The Lost & Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony.
If the PAL PS3 version is the only concern, you may be wondering why that has delayed the PC version and the North American launch altogether. Well, Rockstar gives a perfectly reasonable explanation:
“This was a tough decision but with a simultaneous release, everyone can experience multiplayer simultaneously, take part in online events together, be on level ground on leaderboards, etc.”
Makes sense to me. And it’s only a two-week delay, so it’s not like they’re asking us to wait very long. I’m actually kind of happy about it to be honest. Between God of War III, Final Fantasy XIII, Yakuza 3 and the early build of 3D Dot Game Heroes that just came in today (Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening should be on the way too!), my PS3 is already working overtime at the moment. A couple extra weeks to lighten the load may just be a blessing in disguise for me!
As for the “minor content changes,” Rockstar says that Sony Europe requested edits to certain things like radio stations, internet content and so on.
“Despite our best efforts to work through this quickly, the two weeks were needed to complete submission. We understand and sympathise with the fans that will be upset by this delay. We want to assure our fans that the minor changes made to the game will not affect the gamers enjoyment of the games, these will not affect any gameplay elements and were not related to any local ratings requirements.”
Episodes from Liberty City Now Coming to PlayStation 3 and PC this April [Rockstar News Wire]
Matt Litten is the full-time editor and owner of VGBlogger.com. He is responsible for maintaining the day to day operation of the site, editing all staff content before it is published, and contributing regular news, reviews, previews and other articles.
Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com. After a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez, Matt assumed full ownership over VGBlogger, and to this day he is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
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