Dark Void delayed â??for game alterationsâ??

Californian developer Airtight Games has not seen its newest project – the Capcom-owned Dark Void – delayed strategically.

Capcom recently announced that the title would be released in the early weeks of 2010, joining an entire fleet of publishers pulling their titles out of this year’s crammed (though thinning) Christmas release schedule.

Many have claimed that the widespread game delays (which includes Bioshock 2 Mafia 2, Red Dead Redemption, Splinter Cell Conviction, Red Steel 2, Singularity and MAG) is due to nervy publishers looking at yet another crammed Christmas schedule, though this time with the stakes pushed even higher amid a global credit crisis.

Not so with Capcom and Dark Void. Shana Bryant, the publisher’s associate producer for Dark Void, told Kotaku that the key reason the title was delayed was to “spend extra time we needed to re-polish it and add a new feature.”

“We’ve been talking about adding a hover feature mode for awhile," she added. "I think it’s been the best game design decision we’ve made."

There’s clearly weight to Capcom’s claim. The game now allows the main protagonist – essentially a man strapped to a rocket pack – the ability to hover up vertically.

"We are play testing it and balancing it now," added Bryant.