Spec Ops: The Line release date delayed to June 26, pre-order pack unveiled

Spec Ops fans will have to wait a few more months for their next fix, as 2K Games announced Spec Ops: The Line will miss its spring launch window, and instead arrive in North America on June 26, and everywhere else on June 29.

Mixing a little good with the bad, 2K Games took the delay as an opportunity detail the in-game perks on offer to those who pre-order their copy from “select retailers”. Specifically, those that do enlist early will receive the FUBAR pack containing multiplayer goodies including double experience points during the first week of play, an AK-47 unlock at rank one, access to the Officer Class at rank one, and other character customization items.

“People who pre-order the game are going to have an immediate advantage in the multiplayer mode,” insisted senior producer Denby Grace in the formal announcement.

Spec Ops: The Line represents 2K Games first attempt at a wartime shooter. Developed by Yager Developments, it will introduce a new storyline to the Spec Ops franchise starring one Captain Martin Walker and his Delta Force bravo team. In it, players will journey to a war-ravaged Dubai in search of a AWOL US Colonel named John Conrad, who may or may not have gone all Heart of Darknessy during his stay.

The game was originally slated to arrive in late 2011, but was later delayed to spring 2012. Now that 2K Games has an actual date, odds are this will be the one that sticks. See why it may be worth the wait to play a different breed of military shooter in our latest hands-on preview.

Matt Bradford wrote news and features here at GamesRadar+ until 2016. Since then he's gone on to work with the Guinness World Records, acting as writer and researcher for the annual Gamer's Edition series of books, and has worked as an editor, technical writer, and voice actor. Matt is now a freelance journalist and editor, generating copy across a multitude of industries.