Summer of Arcade returning to XBL

Last year, Microsoft ran its "Summer of Arcade" promotion, five consecutive weeks of high-profile downloadable Xbox 360 game releases and sweepstakes giveaways. Over the entire month of August, Microsoft punctuated the debuts of Braid, Geometry Wars 2, and Castle Crashers by giving away an Xbox 360 Elite system, free year-long Xbox Live Gold subscriptions, and $1,750 in Microsoft points.

The console maker is apparently planning to do it all over again, as a Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment representative confirmed for GameSpot that its Watchmen: The End is Nigh Part 2 will be part of the second annual Summer of Arcade.

The PC and PlayStation 3 editions of The End is Nigh Part 2 are expected on July 29 and July 30, respectively, but the Xbox 360 version of the game won't be downloadable until August 26. The WBIE representative said the Xbox 360 release was pushed back so that it could be part of the Summer of Arcade.

As of press time, Microsoft had not returned a request for details on the second "Summer of Arcade" promotion.

[CORRECTION]: The WBIE rep said only that the second Watchmen episode's belated arrival was "for XBLA's second annual Summer of Arcade program," not specifying if the intent was to include it in the program or leave it out. We regret the error.