The release date of Red Faction: Armageddon has been pushed back, to coincide with E3 no less, when all the websites are busy writing news and previews from hotels. This will give THQ a comfortable buffer between launch and coverage, while any reviews released during that time will likely get lost in the sea of rumors.

Now for the big question: why?

This is the same tactic that THQ employed for the release of Red Faction: Guerrilla in 2009. Guerrilla was praised across the board by the press( Metacritic ), but initial sales were slow. Presumably to generate more interest, THQ later offered free copies of Red Faction: Guerrilla with purchases of Darksiders and Metro 2033.

Red Faction: Guerrilla was a success, but even CEO Brian Farrell rated the launch a "B," and cited the change in release date as one of the contributing causes. Two years later, and Red Faction Armageddon is following in the exact same footsteps.

Red Faction: Armageddon will be available on Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 June 7, 2011. A demo has also been announced for Xbox 360 and should be available May 3.