Irrational Games has announced that Bioshock Infinite, which was previously on track for an October release, has been delayed until February 26, 2013.

"When we announced the release date of BioShock Infinite in March, we felt pretty good about the timing. Since then, we've uncovered opportunities to make Infinite into something even more extraordinary," creative director Ken Levine said, "Therefore, to give our talented team the time they need to deliver the best Infinite possible, we've decided to move the game's release to February."

In the meantime, Irrational won't be releasing any more previews of the game, and the company will be skipping E3 and GamesCom to put more time into development.

Levine said that the next time gamers get a look at Infinite, it will be the version Irrational plans to ship.

[joystiq.]

The movie version of BioShock, which has been stuck in development hell for years and has already gone through two directors, may still happen. BioShock creator and Irrational Games chief Ken Levine says the company plans to move forward with the movie after BioShock Infinite is complete.

"It's always about the stars aligning. We're still focusing on it, but it hasn't consumed us so much", said Levine. "Right now, we're choosing our battles and focusing on making BioShock Infinite."

Previously, there had been some disagreement between Irrational and Universal about the movie's rating. Universal wanted a PG-13, while Levine and co. pushed for an R rating and a movie that stayed true to the source material.

Directors Gore Verbinski and Juan Carlos Fresnadillo both dropped out of the project because they believed the two sides wouldn't be able to reach an agreement.

"It's hard enough to get a movie made when all the right pieces are in place. If you don't start with the right pieces, you don't have a prayer", Levine said.

BioShock Infinite hits on October 16.

[gamefreakz.]

Irrational Games closes out its BioShock Infinite "Heavy Hitters" video series by introducing a fourth and final new enemy, the Siren.

She's the ghost of a performer who uses her terrifying songs to raise the dead, reanimating enemies that protagonist Booker DeWitt has already killed and making them even more threatening.

BioShock creator Ken Levine says the Siren puts gamers in a tough spot: do you try to take out this Heavy Hitter right away, or fight the guys who are actually shooting at you?

BioShock Infinite is due out October 16, 2012.

[irrationalgames]

BioShock creator Ken Levine and his team are back with the third in their BioShock Infinite "Heavy Hitters" video series, which introduces the game's four brand new big baddies.

This time around, we meet The Boys of Silence, blind men in helmets with two enormous gramophones extending from the sides. They can't see you, but they can hear you, and then emit a horrifying shriek to call for backup.

Levine says you can think of the Boys of Silence like the cameras from the original BioShock, but now they're walking around and looking for you. Combine that with the creepy masks and the screams, and you've got a pretty terrifying enemy.

The fourth and final Heavy Hitter will be revealed soon, and BioShock Infinite is due out October 16, 2012.

[rockpapershotgun]

In their latest BioShock Infinite developer diary, Irrational Games introduces the second of the game's four Heavy Hitters, The Handyman.

Handymen are part-robot, part-man, and they get their name from their enormous hands, which lead artist Shawn Robertson says are based on creepy porcelain dolls from the game's early-1900's time period.

They're also extremely fast and agile for their huge size, and their signature attack involves using those huge hands to throw other NPCs at the player. As BioShock creator Ken Levine explains, this means a Handyman is often just as scary to other enemies as he is to protagonist Booker DeWitt.

Irrational plans to debut the final two Heavy Hitters in future videos. BioShock Infinite is due out October 19th.

[superpunch]