Following a turbulent year for Bohemia Interactive, the studio’s decided to delay the launch of Arma 3 until some point in 2013. The military sim was expected to enter a closed beta phase this month, but the detainment of two developers under charges of espionage has impacted on the studio’s release schedule. The delay was inevitable of course, but it’s still a damn shame this case has now almost completely overshadowed development of the game.
Speaking in a press release, Arma 3’s new project lead Joris-Jan van ‘t Land stated: “We’ve been in the process of implementing changes that will help us innovate as a studio under unexpected circumstances – facing problems we simply couldn’t have imagined. We’re still trying to make sense of the situation and hope that our colleagues will be released soon. Although their plight has certainly affected us on a personal level, we continue working on the tasks identified as key to the release of Arma 3.”
The detained developers, Ivan Buchta and Martin Pezlar, have filed a second appeal with the Greek courts, who had previouslyrefused them bail. The pair were arrested on suspicion of spying while holidaying on the Greek island of Lemnos, andtheir case has yet to reach the courts where it could be properly contested.
Joris-Jan van ‘t Land continues:”I hope this update provides some answers regarding the status of the project. We’re currently sorting the specifics so we can deliver a more complete announcement at the beginning of next year.”
Bohemia say they’ll be able to finalise their release plans in the new year, while they also continue to work with developer Dean Hallon a standalone version of DayZ.