Sacred 2 Delayed

Ascaron Entertainment has announced that its upcoming action-RPG Sacred 2: Fallen Angel will be delayed until late 2008.

The developer has said that both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game will now ship in September 2008, rather than in the first quarter of the year as had been previously announced. The delay will allow for a longer period of beta testing, which will focus primarily on optimizing and balancing the multiplayer portion of the game.

"A highly anticipated AAA title such as Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is a great responsibility with high expectations to manage and live up to," said Ascaron Managing Director Heiko tom Felde. "To achieve our goal, we have decided to give Sacred 2: Fallen Angel more time in order to be perfected and polished in every single area, allowing us to deliver the quality which is expected, rather than striving for an early release."

Released in 2004, Sacred is a Diablo-style action-RPG set in the magical realm of Ancaria. Players could choose from one of six unique character classes, each with its own abilities, in a quest to defeat a demon rampaging across the land. A 2005 expansion, Sacred Underworld, added two new character classes as well as new monsters, items and game regions.