Coming June 2 to PCs near you…lots and lots of them. Yesterday, Electronic Arts both confirmed the delay of The Sims 3 and told media outlets that the game will instead be available on June 2, 2009. The game was originally scheduled to hit shelves in late February, however EA execs decided that the launch window needed “reevaluating” based on the game’s level of polish. Personally, I suspect this delay is more aimed at building hype for the game than anything else.

The industry has been mysteriously quiet on the subject of this this addition to the monstrously huge franchise, so much so that I myself wasn’t even aware of the February release date until a few weeks ago. Comments made to IGN by Russell Arons, Vice President of Marketing at Electronic Arts (Maxis’s publisher), suggest my presumption might not be far off base. Yesterday, he was quoted as saying,

“The June launch combined with the break-through game the team is building gives us the perfect runway to create awareness for The Sims 3. [It] will be the original IP summer blockbuster of 2009 as we build off the success of the best-selling PC franchise of all time to create awareness with both loyal Sims fans and new players.”

Considering that it was a marketing VP who was charged with releasing the news to the gaming community, one can’t help but wonder whether or not this decision was driven by marketing rather than quality issues.

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