Lionhead Studios have stoically refused to give any hint as to when the sequel to their groundbreaking god-sim is going to finally walk the earth. An unsurprising move considering the debacle surrounding the relentlessly delayed Black and White, a game that was released well over a year after its originally posted release date after a flurry of sheepish announcements and wrung hands. No company would intentionally want to put themselves through the kind of mauling that endured for their inability to stick to a wildly optimistic timetable, so gamers have had to drool over the sumptuous screenshots and previews with little indication as to when they would actually get to play the damn thing.

Well now the waiting is almost over. Lionhead have let it be known that Black and White 2 will be released in on October 7th, while it debuts in North America a week earlier on September 30th. The revelation was a low-key affair, with the release date appearing as a footnote on a page on the official website that displayed the pack-art for the game along with the assertion from Lionhead that 'we are almost finished'.

Gamers would be advised to bank on Lionhead hitting their release date this time round. We will eat our collective hat if they let the game slip even one week. Maybe.

By Sam Gibson