While the gaming community ponders as to when Rockstar Games will release Grand Theft Auto V, we at least can look forward to Max Payne 3 coming this year, albeit at a slightly later date than expected.

Only a day after reporting about Remedy Entertainment praising Rockstar for their work on Max Payne 3, the game is getting pushed back, taking a page out of the Ubisoft book for their similar delay of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.

Future Soldier was delayed last week from March 6th to May 22nd and today, Rockstar confirms that Max Payne 3 is also moving from its March 6th date to May 15th (May 18th internationally), with its PC release due May 29th (June 1st internationally).

Can you feel BioWare flexing its Mass Effect 3 muscles? March was poised to be one of the busiest months ever for major video game releases but multiple delays have made it something less scary for gamers. I'm sure the industry knows and feels the anticipation for Mass Effect 3 and the hours it'll consume from gamers, especially now that it's adding multiplayer, so going up against it isn't a smart business move.

Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games:

“Max Payne 3 brings powerful storytelling back to the action-shooter genre. Rockstar Studios are delivering a game that’s both incredibly cinematic and very, very intense to play.”

Because of the move, Take-Two had adjusted their forecasted earnings, reducing them to a loss.

As a result, Take-Two now expects to report a net loss for fiscal year 2012. Specifically, the Company expects this change to reduce its fiscal year 2012 net revenue by $210 — 230 million...

Houser explains in the financials update that they don't take the delay of Max Payne 3 "lightly" and that they're doing it to ensure the game's quality and polish. When it comes to releasing games without bugs, we at Game Rant encourage developers to take as much time as they need. There's nothing worse than getting a game that doesn't do what it's meant to. Trust us, there's plenty of other games to keep us busy until then.

What we're curious about is what this means for Grand Theft Auto V, a game widely speculated a potential release in May, if not, later this year. Rockstar Games showcased a very polished trailer for GTA V out of nowhere in November but have kept mum on the release date front. Can we still expect it to release this fall with a big showing with more information at E3 in the summer? Or is Grand Theft Auto not returning until 2013 and if so, why the early trailer reveal?

As with that other game Rockstar is avoiding that stars with an "M" and ends with a "3" (Mass Effect 3), Max Payne 3 also adds a story-driven multiplayer component. If you're interested, check out the latest Max Payne 3 screenshots and consider pre-ordering.

Max Payne 3 releases May 15, 2012 for PS3 and Xbox 360, and May 29th on PC.

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Follow me on Twitter @rob_keyes.

Sources: Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive