A blow arrived today for anyone hoping to play Mass Effect Andromeda, the fourth game in the series. It's been pushed back to "early 2017," in a bid to "deliver everything the game can be and should be." At that, some eyes likely rolled into the next county, but maybe it's not a bad idea.

Bioware not only noted that the game's launch date was to be pushed back, but that we'd be getting a look at it soon enough, at the EA Play conference just ahead of E3 on Sunday, June 10. Back during E3 2015, the game was set for launch in 2016, and until just recently, it was slated for a fourth quarter launch. However, in March, an EA executive clarified, saying it was the FISCAL fourth quarter, as opposed to the temporal one. That's slated to run January through March 2017, and given that BioWare general manager Aaryn Flynn noted the game would drop in "early 2017," that correction may have been accurate after all.

Cold comfort to those who were planning on enjoying the game this year as the Earth descends into cold once more, but it's hard to be too put out. It's a small delay, and if it's the only one, that's not so bad. If nothing else, it's livable. But it's still more delay than the players would like, especially after such a wait from the last one.

Hopefully, though, we won't be treated to the lovely choice of non-endings we had back in the third one. Considering the sheer ambition of the fourth one suggested so far, we could be in for some very good news. Only next year will tell just how this turns out, but I'm looking forward to a great experience.