Crackdown 2 Coming First Half of 2010

While Microsoft has remained rather quiet as to when exactly Ruffian's Xbox 360-exclusive sequel Crackdown 2 is due, thus far only specifying a vague 2010 timeframe, Microsoft product mangement director Aaron Greenberg recently narrowed the release window to "first half of the year" during his time on Major Nelson Show #344.

"Starting in January, we have a triple-A exclusive title pretty much every month for the first half of the year," said Greenberg. "You got Mass Effect 2, you got Splinter Cell [Conviction], you got Alan Wake, you got Crackdown 2. We know we got things like Fable 3 and Halo Reach coming later in the year. Those are just the exclusives, it doesn't include Final Fantasy [XIII]. There's no way we had a first-half of the year like that last year."

Of all the games mentioned, Ruffian's super-powered action sequel was the only one to receive such clarification --Mass Effect 2 hits January 26, Splinter Cell: Conviction is due February 23, Alan Wake arrives in the "spring" and Final Fantasy XIII premieres March 9, with Fable 3 not hitting early in the year and Halo Reach due in fall.