Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days scoots up a week

The reunion of IO Interactive's criminally dynamic duo has been rescheduled. Square Enix today announced that the release of Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days has been moved up a week to August 17 in North America and August 20 in Europe and other PAL territories. (The Japanese release is still set for August 26.)

Square Enix offered little explanation for the move outside a quote from IO Interactive general manager Niels Jorgensen, who said, "With development now complete, why keep people waiting any longer?"

The move gives Dog Days a head start on another high-profile game focused on crooked characters in an unsavory underworld: Take-Two Interactive's Mafia II. Both titles had previously been set to launch August 24 in North America.

In Kane and Lynch's second outing, the psychopath and his ex-mercenary cohort travel to China, mixing it up with the Shanghai underworld over a 48-hour period. IO has included new Fragile Alliance multiplayer modes, expanding on the original's online play where gamers had to work together but at any moment could go rogue and steal loot from teammates.

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is set for release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.