Sign on Options
Theme:
To Dark

E3 06: EA delays Superman, Medal of Honor games

Movie tie-in game now set to hit alongside DVD later this year, military shooter pushed to 2007.

In the investor conference call accompanying its quarterly earnings report today, Electronic Arts announced a couple of delays for upcoming games. The company's game adaptation of this summer's blockbuster film Superman Returns has been pushed back, as has the next installment of EA's own Medal of Honor series.

Superman Returns was originally set to arrive on shelves for a number of systems alongside the movie's release this June. In the call, EA executive VP and general manager of North American publishing Frank Gibeau explained why the Man of Steel won't make that date.

"The ambitious nature of the open-world design proved to be fairly challenging, with regard to hitting the launch window for the film," Gibeau told investors. "And we wanted to look at a long-term opportunity here with Superman, so as a result we moved the product release to the fall to coincide with the DVD at holiday. Actually, from a publishing standpoint, the DVD release at holiday is a nice combination. There are more vehicles for us to market and promote the game, and we're going to get a better game this fall than we would have with the movie release."

However, Superman will still be faster than the speeding bullets of the Medal of Honor series when it comes to reaching retail. EA indicated that Medal of Honor: Airborne will not make the all-important holiday season this year as had previously been announced. Instead, Airborne is now expected to drop in the fourth quarter of the company's fiscal year (January to March of 2007).

"That is going to be a critical franchise for us in the next cycle," Gibeau said. "That's a franchise that we want to grow over the next five years… It's a very ambitious design, and again, we are prioritizing game quality higher than making that date."

This is not the first time EA, citing quality concerns, has delayed highly anticipated games. Last July, the company delayed its planned release of The Godfather. The move pushed the game out of the key holiday quarter, which had a definite impact on EA in the market. The day after the announcement, the company's stock lost nearly five percent of its value.

81 Comments

  • kmart_43210

    Posted Jul 20, 2006 5:21 pm GMT

    This sucks ive been looking forwards to Moh: Airborne for so long

  • luger81

    Posted Jun 24, 2006 6:35 pm GMT

    Are you kidding me? Superman 64 was the worst Superman game yet, with the exception of the Atari/NES games. Superman: The Man of Steel (XBOX) and the Superman: Shadow of Apokolips was way way way better than Superman 64. I don't know what you were thinking.

  • twobells

    Posted May 23, 2006 3:27 pm GMT


    EA are a dinosaur and represents the worst example of a games publishing company.

  • OlympianRyan

    Posted May 9, 2006 4:04 pm GMT

    I'm glad they are going to make to make the game better. I hope the Nintendo DS verison will be 3D and that the graphics will be extraordinary.

    I wonder if the movie will be better than Smallville?

  • JusTis

    Posted May 5, 2006 12:56 am GMT

    HuhJustaBox
    I know why they are really delaying MOH. They are working on a way of buying the license to make WWII shooters. Once they procure these once often thought of impossibility of licensing apart of world history... then they will realease their craptacular MOH. This way it will not have to compete with the superiority of Call of Duty or Brothers in Arms. They are one step closer at Licensing the entire world and every possible idea of the past present and future. Viva la EA!!!!! We hate competition...it makes us look bad!!!!!

    Agreed, EA couldn't compete with companies who care about making a solid game.

    Remember Tanya Harding?

  • blitzx23

    Posted May 4, 2006 3:06 pm GMT

    20 bucks says this games sucks as bad as batman begins.

  • blkgto

    Posted May 4, 2006 1:42 pm GMT

    Surprised EA is in economic trouble. Wonder how many millions burger king threw at them to put their mascot in fight night round 3? MoH is an excellent franchise, but if it needed that much work that they have to push it back to march 2007, then maybe they shouldnt have said anything about a release date in the first place.

  • d429

    Posted May 4, 2006 11:52 am GMT

    EA is just a money sucking machine anyway. It doesn't suprise me about a delay. I love Medal of Honor games. They are great!

  • supercrap1

    Posted May 4, 2006 11:00 am GMT

    Unless Superman can pick up a building and hit a helicopter with it so hard that the helicopter goes back in time and alters the space time continuum.......uninterested

  • Fallout_red

    Posted May 4, 2006 10:10 am GMT

    I hope they really make MoH:A different. This delay may be the best option.

  • sabru8

    Posted May 4, 2006 10:03 am GMT

    whatever

  • WolfSkill5544

    Posted May 4, 2006 9:37 am GMT

    EA is more worry about their money than the quality of the games

  • mlbslugger86

    Posted May 4, 2006 9:35 am GMT

    well i agree with superman returns being delayed,but why medal of honor?

  • GTA_ass

    Posted May 4, 2006 9:15 am GMT

    They're delaying MOH:AA because they know that BIA:HH will wipe the floor with it.

  • tubedogg

    Posted May 4, 2006 8:01 am GMT

    Am I the only one who remembers an almost identical reason for delaying The Godfather?

    "Releasing the game in early 2006 allows us more time to perfect the open-world experience of being a member of the Corleone family." (see http://videogames.yahoo.com/newsarticle?eid=374864&page=0)

    What is it about "open world[s]" that prevents EA from releasing a game on schedule? Not that it will probably hurt this game, but given EA's track record, it probably won't help much either. I wouldn't be surprised if they finished it mid-summer and just held it for the DVD's release.

    As regards The Godfather, I actually quite enjoyed it. For an EA game it was surprisingly playable and enjoyable.

  • DarknessOfFate1

    Posted May 4, 2006 7:48 am GMT

    "It's a very ambitious design, and again, we are prioritizing game quality higher than making that date."

    Ambitious wtf since when does a company that releases identicle sprot games every year do soemthign ambitious? And as many gamers here have said remember super man 64 and be happy this has been delayed.

  • jcloverboy

    Posted May 4, 2006 7:46 am GMT

    We need another Superman game just as much as we needed a new Superman film.

    We didn't need them at all.

  • OmitName

    Posted May 4, 2006 7:31 am GMT

    Just in case it hasnt been said. Well done EA for not realeasing a game too early. EA seems like the first game company to realease a crappy game to make sure it hits in the movie premiere window.

    Now they will HAVE to make sure its good.

  • chrisdojo

    Posted May 4, 2006 5:09 am GMT

    teh (not so super) superman game will be crap. (as every other superman game that has been made)

  • Pick_me_please

    Posted May 4, 2006 4:25 am GMT

    I remember a few years ago when Tombraider 2 the movie came out and bombed and it blamed the quality of the video game for its poor box office performance. It almost seemed like movie studios would keep tabs on the quality of the game released alongside it. I wonder if that had anything to do with Superman getting delayed from its original release date alongside the movie.

  • Pick_me_please

    Posted May 4, 2006 4:22 am GMT

    I remember a few years ago when Tombraider 2 games out and bombed it blamed the quality of the game for its poor box office performance. It almost seemed like movie studios would keep tabs on the quality of the game released alongside it. I wonder if that had anything to do with Superman getting delayed from its original release date alongside the movie.

  • Sandman100

    Posted May 4, 2006 3:46 am GMT

    Remember superman on the 64... now that was a good game...
    Not
    The screenshots do really seem dull and boreing. It will give them more time to work on the game in tell it get released in Nov on DVD.
    MOH: Airborne I say the first teaser trailer of it. It looked good like the first great MOH game in a long time. So they need to take there time with it

  • Sandman100

    Posted May 4, 2006 3:46 am GMT

    Remember superman on the 64... now that was a good game...
    Not
    The screenshots do really seem dull and boreing. It will give them more time to work on the game in tell it get released in Nov on DVD.
    MOH: Airborne I say the first teaser trailer of it. It looked good like the first great MOH game in a long time. So they need to take there time with it

  • Sandman100

    Posted May 4, 2006 3:46 am GMT

    Remember superman on the 64... now that was a good game...
    Not
    The screenshots do really seem dull and boreing. It will give them more time to work on the game in tell it get released in Nov on DVD.
    MOH: Airborne I say the first teaser trailer of it. It looked good like the first great MOH game in a long time. So they need to take there time with it

  • courtez2k4

    Posted May 4, 2006 2:32 am GMT

    I just the Superman game is good because it will have a job replicating the film experience in anyway. The trailer for the movie is incredible can't wait to see the whole thing. Just hope EA use the extra months wisely and try and bring it out on GC..

  • razqoonz

    Posted May 4, 2006 1:04 am GMT

    Hope Dalay would cause MOM series stay in supreme first person shooting

  • MSE369

    Posted May 3, 2006 11:28 pm GMT

    hahahaha i saw it coming ..EA releases good games every once in a while but thats veryy rarely!!

  • Drudaddy

    Posted May 3, 2006 11:06 pm GMT

    and they should delay superman, because the graphics were horrible, come back with a better look

  • ocdog45

    Posted May 3, 2006 9:49 pm GMT

    I can only have so much MOH anway

  • Shadow_Kisuragi

    Posted May 3, 2006 9:37 pm GMT

    I heard rumors flying around the office about this, so I guess the deal was finalized. That must be why they were taking people off the project...

  • maximo1

    Posted May 3, 2006 8:53 pm GMT

    EA should always "push" their games back. They never put enough time into development.

  • PCmetal

    Posted May 3, 2006 8:41 pm GMT

    They delayed Godfather and look at it... it's still subpar. I didn't even realize it was released. I thought their Godfather game was supposed to be super special because they said they spent an entire year working out the details of the game without typing a single line of code, and that after this time they began coding and puting it together...

  • kriptonzz

    Posted May 3, 2006 7:51 pm GMT

    Nothing can stop superman!!!!

    except for a delay.

  • slow-pc

    Posted May 3, 2006 7:49 pm GMT

    Knew these were getting delayed... had some feeling.

  • ilikeschool

    Posted May 3, 2006 7:30 pm GMT

    Maybe they pushed MOH back to release with Brothers in Arms. Doesn't matter, Brothers in Arms will be better.

  • nemes1s3000

    Posted May 3, 2006 7:20 pm GMT

    I gotta have my Superman.

  • HuhJustaBox

    Posted May 3, 2006 7:03 pm GMT

    I know why they are really delaying MOH. They are working on a way of buying the license to make WWII shooters. Once they procure these once often thought of impossibility of licensing apart of world history... then they will realease their craptacular MOH. This way it will not have to compete with the superiority of Call of Duty or Brothers in Arms. They are one step closer at Licensing the entire world and every possible idea of the past present and future. Viva la EA!!!!! We hate competition...it makes us look bad!!!!!

  • SplinterMech

    Posted May 3, 2006 6:54 pm GMT

    EA should really stop making MOH games because they've been failing miserably at developing them as of late. And their competition in the genre has already defeated them in basically every way.

  • gamepunk86

    Posted May 3, 2006 6:36 pm GMT

    well, the godfather sucked. that's all i got to say

  • drangel_jam

    Posted May 3, 2006 6:20 pm GMT

    As long as it cooks well I don't mind waiting.

  • crippla87

    Posted May 3, 2006 6:16 pm GMT

    Wow, EA is actually worrying more about game quality than money. Its about damn time EA, how about the same approach with your sports games for crying out loud!

  • PacBoy23

    Posted May 3, 2006 6:11 pm GMT

    i thought medal of honor Airborne might of made ps3 launch now that is delayed til 2007 man well that will make it better but that would of been a good launch game

  • iliastse

    Posted May 3, 2006 6:07 pm GMT

    Hope that delay will make the games better

  • EricTheO

    Posted May 3, 2006 6:02 pm GMT

    I wonder if in fact many of the Game delays in the Industry are really do to the CEO and Shareholders wanting to make their stocks and revenues look better in a given quarter. Wouldn't due.... to heavy load, say a Christmas release, with too many good sellers only to have a very flat quarter after that... would it? They have to move the pieces on the chess board for Buisness Week, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal.

    -, Eric

  • blackIceJoe

    Posted May 3, 2006 5:53 pm GMT

    I like this a LOT will help make the game a lot more in depth and a lot clearer at least I hope so.

    I wonder in this time they can add Superman to the PS3.I know I would love that.

  • LordGamer0001

    Posted May 3, 2006 5:48 pm GMT

    yeah it better be awesome if it gets delayed.

  • nurik_strife

    Posted May 3, 2006 5:47 pm GMT

    EA can't make any decent game with superheros, just stick to NFS series guys. Wow, what a freakin surprise too, it's just a cover up for a crappy game, remember Batman Begins, agggh! WTF?

  • Xanog1

    Posted May 3, 2006 5:47 pm GMT

    Well, hopefully the MOH delay means that we'll finally get another good game in the series.

  • tuff_gong92

    Posted May 3, 2006 5:46 pm GMT

    Looks like Medal of Honor can wait...

  • spartan202

    Posted May 3, 2006 5:44 pm GMT

    thank GoD for the delay better to not rush games just cuz next-gen consoles

Subscribe to GameSpot's YouTube Channel

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!