Mass Effect 3 delayed

EA has confirmed a delay for BioWare’s anticipated RPG release Mass Effect 3.

Previously the game had been scheduled for a holiday 2011 release, but as part of its financial report last night EA confirmed that the game will now ship at some point in Q1 2012.

Developer BioWare has suggested that the extra time has been allotted to ensuring the game meets fans’ extraordinarily high expectations.

And speaking to investors last night, Eurogamer reports that EA boss John Riccitiello suggested that the game is being altered to appeal top a wider market.

"One of the things that Ray Muzyuka and the team up in Edmonton have done is essentially step-by-step adjust the gameplay mechanics and some of the features that you’ll see at E3 to put this in a genre equivalent to shooter-meets-RPG and essentially address a much larger market opportunity than Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 began to approach."