Aliens: Colonial Marines Delayed To Fall 2012

It seems that Gearbox Software's Aliens: Colonial Marines won't be arriving this spring as planned. Publisher Sega now projects the game for a fall release.

AVP Galaxy spotted the new release window on the game's official website. This is true of both the UK and US versions of the site. The fact that it's listed on more than one site seems to rule out a clerical error.

The only platforms listed on either site are the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Gearbox has stated that 3DS and Wii U versions are in developent as well. Presumably the release dates for those versions are even less certain.

Colonial Marines takes place after the events of the film Aliens. Players lead a team of Marines on a mission to investigate the U.S.S. Sulaco. The ship, seemingly abandoned, turns out to be infested by bloodthirsty aliens.

Aliens fans shouldn't be surprised by another delay. After all, the game was originally scheduled for a late 2008 release. The Spring 2012 launch was announced at last summer's E3. Gearbox hasn't said much about the game since then, though. That's usually not a good sign.

If Marines has in fact been rescheduled for fall 2012, where does that leave Borderlands 2? It seems unlikely that Gearbox would release two co-op shooters in the same holiday season. They'd be essentially competing with themselves. Borderlands 2 was expected in either late 2012 or early 2013 so the latter seems more likely now.

Gearbox and Sega have yet to confirm Marines' delay. However, a dev post on the Gearbox forum from Wednesday promises we'll hear more about the game soon.

"I know it has been quiet but most things usually are during the holiday time frame. Holidays are now over... Expect to see a steady ramp up," reads the post. "Some crazy cool ass stuff is in the pipes."

Update: Soon after this story broke, Sega changed the Colonial Marines site so it says "Spring 2012."

Update 2: Sega has confirmed the delay. Also, the "crazy cool ass stuff" hyped by Gearbox includes a trailer being aired tomorrow.