Take-Two recently announced plans to delay four massive games in their upcoming release schedule (all sequels) to fiscal 2010, which means we won’t be seeing Bioshock 2, Mafia II, Max Payne 3 or Red Dead Redemption until after April next year.

Bioshock 2 was previously expected to release at the end of October/beginning of November, Max Payne 3 was announced to be releasing later this year, while Mafia II and Red Dead Redemption’s release windows had previously been updated to ‘end of this year, or beginning of next year.’

Take-Two CEO Bed Feder said of the announcement:

“The decision to shift a release date is never an easy one, especially with a product as highly anticipated as BioShock 2. We felt that it was essential to invest the additional time to ensure that this title will deliver what its fans expect and deserve.

“As a result, we will now be launching sequels to several of our strongest franchises - including BioShock 2, Mafia II, Max Payne 3 and Red Dead Redemption - during the next fiscal year.

“These titles will anchor our lineup for fiscal 2010, and along with other products planned for next year, provide a platform for enhanced financial performance in what we hope will be an improved retail environment.”

During a conference call, Take-Two top brass fielded questions from the press, one of which concerned the clarification of a future release date for Bioshock 2, to which Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick responded:

“We’re not giving more detail on actual launch dates, although we will when it’s appropriate to do so. When you’re into the latter parts of a development cycle, obviously you can have somewhat more confidence about the release date.

“We’re obviously chastened by the news we are announcing today, so we’re taking enormous pains for the coming fiscal year (to provide confident dates).”