Evolve delayed until February 2015

2K’s upcoming multiplayer shooter has slipped from October in 2015.

The game will launch February 10th 2015 in the US and UK.

It’s a surprise because the game was looking pretty impressive at E3, winning numerous show awards. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told MCV the delay was not due to the congested release slate in Q4, but rather to give the game extra polish.

"It was the primary belief that polish pays off," Zelnick says.

"When we give a title that is looking so promising, having won best of show at E3, a bit more time to make sure it is just as good as it can be, historically that has always been a good move to us. Equally, I do like the February release date, I have to tell you. If you look at our history since we took over the company seven years ago, we have largely stayed out of the Holiday period and gone into what our competitors consider ‘non-traditional’ release windows. And that has served us very well. In February we are going to get the benefit of this new install base from over Christmas, and February will be wide open."

It might come as a relief to some of 2K’s sales and marketing teams. The business already has four games due in October: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, NBA 2K15, WWE 2K15 and Civilization: Beyond Earth. GTA V on PS4, Xbox One and PC is also due out over Q4 from Rockstar.

"We have a pretty busy schedule in October," adds Zelnick. "With regards to NBA and WWE, they belong in October, they are annualised released. The rest of it we think are well position, Civilization: Beyond Earth is a title that typically sells over a very long period of time, so that initial release date is not super-relevant. And Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is being offered for current-gen, so it is arguably going to be seen amongst a different competitive set."

Take-Two has not changed its financial outlook despite the delay. Partialy driven by better-than-expected sales during the last quarter.