SEGA of America has issued an announcement about the new Spring 2010 release date for Alpha Protocol, this coming over two weeks after first indications the espionage-themed RPG was being delayed, and over a week after the release date it obviously already missed, though the date on the Alpha Protocol product section was changed to "Spring 2010" last week. The announcement explains the reasoning for the change:

“Alpha Protocol is a new take on the RPG genre and from day one the team has been working to make Alpha Protocol a truly unique game for players to experience.” says Feargus Urquhart, CEO of Obsidian Entertainment. “We’re very happy that SEGA has made the decision to hold back the shipment of the game in order to give it the best chance at becoming the publishing success that we at Obsidian and our partners at SEGA are striving for”.

“Since the inception of Alpha Protocol, SEGA has recognized the potential for the game to establish itself as an AAA title.” says Masanao Maeda, President and COO, SEGA of America, Inc. “We’ve worked in conjunction with Obsidian Entertainment in making the decision to move Alpha Protocol’s ship date to spring 2010 to ensure that we have the best game possible at launch.”