While the Xbox One and PC versions of Titanfall will be released on March 11, 2014, the Xbox 360 version has been delayed two weeks in order for Bluepoint Games to apply “finishing touches,” reaching retail on March 25.

Since it was known from the start that Respawn would only be handling development duties on Xbox One and PC while Bluepoint Games handled the Xbox 360 port, some differences between the versions have been expected. But it was similarly expected that whatever the discrepancies, they’d be released on the same day. Nevertheless, the confirmation of delay was made rather unceremoniously via EA’s official Twitter account:

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EA’s Patrick Soderlund reiterated those comments in an official press release:

“All three platforms have the amazing intensity and dynamic gameplay between Titans and Pilots and we can’t wait to see what everyone thinks when they start playing the full game next month.”

EA certainly can’t be blamed for wanting to hedge their bets prior to release - since the ugliness of Battlefield 4’s launch is something they don’t wish to repeat - but the smart money would have been on the next-gen game being delayed, not the previous-gen port. Without any further details on exactly which finishing touches Bluepoint is needing extra time to complete, it’s hard to tell if all is well with the process, or this is cause for concern.

Especially since it’s still difficult to understand how Titanfall can even hope to be faithfully adapted to Xbox 360 without sacrificing core elements of the game. The PC requirements recently released show that even some gaming rigs will have a hard time keeping up, let alone outdated console hardware, unsupported by the Xbox One’s much talked-about ‘cloud-based’ processing.

Conspiracy theorists will likely see the delay as an added incentive for excited gamers to invest in an Xbox One rather than saving their pennies for the extra two weeks - add the fact that Microsoft will release limited edition Titanfall Xbox One controllers and a rumored console, and it’s a compelling case. We’ll give EA the benefit of the doubt for now, but there’s no question this news will push some skeptics off the fence, and into next-gen.

Will you be picking up Titanfall on the Xbox One or Xbox 360? If you’ve been holding off on buying an Xbox One, does this delay apply any extra pressure? Sound off in the comments.

Titanfall launches on March 11 for the Xbox one and PC, March 25 for Xbox 360.

Follow Andrew on Twitter @andrew_dyce.

Source: EA (1, 2)