The banning of Manhunt 2 has caused Rockstar a lot of problems. The game was originally scheduled for release in July, but if passed, will probably now be released at least six months after that. That’s an awfully long time to not being making a profit on a game you started work on a couple of years earlier, and it’s also an awfully long time to pay for marketing on a game release you expected to be all wrapped up by now. Add to that the fact that GTA IV’s budget will have been huge and that that game has been delayed too, and you get a recipe for an undesirable financial situation however you look at it. And that’s before you even consider the fact that by early next year the PS2 will be to all intents and purposes a dead platform, cutting a big chunk out of the game’s revenue.

So we’ve established that the business logistics that the ban has wreaked on Rockstar may make the game’s release damage limitation at best, but what of the other factor that might hammer sales? Manhunt 2 has come in for a few pretty bad reviews since it eventually came out in America. Opinions on the quality of the game vary a lot, but there’s now enough doubt in potential buyers’ minds to seriously cut down the numbers Rockstar was expecting earlier in the year. In terms of monetary success, the passing of the game for release may just be too little, too late.