Halloween seems like the perfect time to let our excitement for South Park: The Stick of Truth build even higher, as the game itself seeks to turn a group of children into fantastic heroes, and the small town of South Park, Colorado into a vast wilderness that even the makers of Skyrim would envy.

Unfortunately, Ubisoft announced today that The Stick of Truth would not be making its December release date, pushing the launch all the way into March 2014. But according to the publisher, fans will be thankful that they did.

Things seemed to be going surprisingly well for The Stick of Truth after the game was announced, with series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone hand-picking the developers at Obsidian Entertainment to finally do their show justice in digital form. Even after THQ's collapse put the game into jeopardy, Ubisoft swept in to keep the project afloat.

In an official blog post, Ubisoft claims that they, like many, assumed that acquiring the rights to the game would mean little more than finishing what was already being developed, and providing the marketing the game deserved. But according to Ubisoft North America’s president Laurent Detoc, that wasn't the case:

“Within three weeks after acquiring the game, we sadly realized we had to turn this thing upside down if we hoped to deliver the experience everybody wanted. It’s been such a major overhaul to get to the point where we are that we couldn’t let it go, even if that meant missing December.”

Those sentiments are echoed by Parker and Stone, claiming that the decision to delay the release in order to make the game meet fan expectations is one that fans should be thrilled, not disappointed by:

“We always wanted the game to feel like you’re actually in an episode of South Park. Getting the game up to the crappy standards of the show has been a real challenge and we’re excited to say it’s taken way longer than we thought it would.”

Besides implying that the game wasn't going to be what fans hoped it would with THQ publishing, these comments cement the idea that Parker and Stone are through with releasing sub-par video games bearing the South Park name. And development delays or no, that is extremely good news.

To help keep fans happy, the team has released a new 7-minute gameplay video, following Cartman's clan (including the player-controlled character, 'Sir Douchebag') as they seek out the mysterious Bard in the Giggling Donkey Tavern. Enjoy:

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The gameplay video provides even more evidence of what the developers mean when they claim their intention is to reproduce the look and feel of the TV show throughout gameplay. We came away from the E3 2013 demo convinced the game was on the right track, and hopefully this look at the exploration and combat systems helps explain why.

Fans will sadly have to add a few extra months before they can see the game for themselves, but it does give even more time to decide if the Grand Wizard Edition of the game will be worth the price tag.

How do you feel about the delay? Does the new information regarding the game's state under THQ make the decision easier to understand, or are you simply disappointed? Sound off in the comments.

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South Park: The Stick of Truth will release March 4, 2014 for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Follow Andrew on Twitter @andrew_dyce.

Source: Ubi Blog