EA delays PC release of Dragon Age

Electronic Arts has today announced that it will be delaying three key titles for 2009, including the PC release of Dragon Age: Origins. Though no specific reason for the delays has been announced, it could well be to do with the fact that the publisher has been forced to close 12 facilities today after posting a £445 million GBP loss in just the third quarter of last year.

According to GI.biz the company is laying off 11 percent of it's total workforce, with redundancies hitting all levels of the company. More than 1100 members of staff will be out of work by the end of it.

Dragon Age: Origins was originally scheduled to have a PC release in Q2 of this year, with a console release to follow later in the Christmas rush. Now though EA has pushed the PC release up next to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 releases, saying that the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate will be out in the last half of 2009.

The Sims 3 has also been hit by delays, with EA CEO John Riccitiello saying that the ultra-profitable simulation will be out on June 3rd now in order to give the game a bigger marketing campaign.

The last game to be hit with delays is EA's movie tie-in, The Godfather 2, which is being pushed back from a February release to an indeterminate 'later this year'.

Are you disappointed by the spate of delays, or are you hopeful that the games will turn out even better as a result? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.