According to Reuters, THQ has delayed the release of Saints Row 2 until October 14. The stated reason for this push back of nearly two months is marketing and product quality concerns. The delay will also give the game some breathing room from the recent release of Grand Theft Auto IV, a structurally similar open-world crime game to Saints Row 2.

"Product quality is a huge driver of a game's success and this move allows us to polish the game. The game is done, it's about polish," said Bob Aniello, THQ's senior vice president of worldwide marketing to Reuters. "There is a bigger trend within the industry to build big marketing events within a bigger time window. This allows us to lead up to the holiday timeframe."

Update: Following the news analysts weighed in on the delay. Lazard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian stated, "We believe the primary motivation for the shift is to enhance and improve the title's cooperative (co-op) game-play, which is one of the unique features of this game. While improving game quality is important, we also believe that the shift puts more pressure on the title approaching a more crowded holiday market. We also note that online episodic content for GTA IV is due out in 2H08, which could distract from the Saints Row 2 release if they fall within the same time period."

Todd Greenwald of Signal Hill added, "While August may have been a less competitive release window, it is not when gamers typically buy videogames. This pushes Saints Row 2 into the holiday window, which may be a good thing... While THQ claims Saints Row 2 is done, and only needs more polishing, we believe that initial previews were sub-par, and THQ, realizing how important this title is to their fiscal year, is taking the steps to correct any problems. It doesn't help them that GTA IV has gotten off to such an enormous critical and financial success, creating a very tough comparison."

Greenwald also seemed to agree with Sebastian about the effect of GTA's episodic releases: "We'd also note that GTA IV episodic content will likely be coming out around the August/September timeframe, which may have played a part in THQ's decision-making process."