BioShock Infinite delayed to March 26

Irrational Games' BioShock Infinite won't make its previously scheduled Feb 26, 2013, release date, the game's creative director announced earlier this week. Citing the need for extra time to polish the ambitious first-person shooter, Ken Levine says the game will arrive four weeks later on March 26.

Levine announced the delay at an event in Beverly Hills earlier this week, saying that Irrational's recently hired executive vice president of development, Rod Fergusson — who left Epic Games this summer — identified a need for extra development time for Infinite shortly after joining the company.

"He said, 'Look. Frankly, I think you could really benefit from another three or four more weeks for polish and bug-fixing," Levine said. "I knew I'd probably get beat up in the press a little bit about it, but at the end of the day, if it's going to make a better game, we'll do it."

February is already a busy month, with Fire Emblem: Awakening, Dead Space 3, Aliens: Colonial Marines and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance due. BioShock Infinite's new release date puts the game up against EA's Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel.

BioShock Infinite is planned for release on Windows PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.