Arma 3 delayed to 2013

Bohemia Interactive — the developer of Arma 3 (and espionage enthusiasts) — announced this morning that the tactical shooter is postponed until 2013. Seeing as how there is only two-and-a-half weeks left in December, I don't think it's that surprising. The reason behind the delay is that the game needs more time in development so it can "reach its full potential."

Bohemia Interactive has had a trying second half of 2012. Arma 3 project lead Daniel Musil left the company to pursue other opportunities, so senior designer Joris Jan van't Land took over as project lead. Then there's the arrest and jailing of two Bohemia employees, Ivan Buchta and Martin Pezlar, who are being helo on charges of espionage and are waiting for the legal proceedings to start. Supposedly, while the two were vacationing in Lemnos, Greece, they were taking photos and film of military installations. They said they were just compiling footage for Arma 3, since the game takes place in the mid-2030s on the Aegean islands of Lemnos and Stratis of Greece. Right now, it's basically a he-said, she-said.

Of the legal situation, van't Land said:

We're still trying to make sense of the situation and hope that our colleagues will be released soon […] Although their plight has certainly affected us on a personal level, we continue working on the tasks identified as key to the release of Arma 3.

Until Arma 3 releases, it looks like fans of the series will have to keep torturing themselves by playing DayZ, where no one can be trusted.

You can follow Senior Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ. He likes talking sports, video games, movies, and the stupidity of celebrities. Email at LLiebl@GameZone.com

[Source: Bohemia Interactive]