Publisher Electronic Arts has released a new trailer for Pandemic's open-world destruct-a-thon Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PC, PS2, PS2, X360), confirming the August 31 release date and offering a glimpse at the events that lead up to the sequel.

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Pandemic Studios' open-world shooter Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PC, PS2, PS3, X360) is now slated for an August 31 release, IGN reports. The development of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames has been mired in delays, with the game originally scheduled for a holiday 2007 release window and later bumped to "early 2008". Earlier this year, publisher Electronic Arts announced that the game would be further delayed to its 2009 fiscal year.

Pandemic Studios' Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PC, PS2, PS3, X360) has been pushed back yet again, with the destruction filled open-world game now set to release in publisher Electronic Arts' next fiscal year.

EA's 2009 fiscal year runs from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009; that broad release time frame was not narrowed down, but the game is likely to ship this year.

At last official word, Pandemic expected the game to appear in "early 2008," though retailer listings recently hinted at another delay. Today's news was contained within financial documents released by EA.

"We wanted to time it more closely to the movie," Pandemic co-founder and president Josh Resnick said when the game was first delayed last year. "But then we realized that we don't have a movie, so we just said, 'Aww hell, let's just make the game better.'"

The release date of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PC, PS2, PS3, X360) remains in limbo, but here are a couple of new screenshots showing off the open-world action game sequel.

Updated retailer listings for Pandemic Studios' Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PC, PS2, PS3, X360) suggest the destruction filled open-world game may have been delayed yet again.

Both GameStop and Amazon.com now list the game as releasing on August 25, a substantial push from the previous target of Q1 2008. While retailers are notorious for using placeholder dates, it is extremely unlikely that two separate retailers would shift to the same date without outside word.

It wouldn't be the first delay for Mercenaries 2, which was originally slated to hit in the fall of 2007. "We wanted to time it more closely to the movie," Pandemic co-founder and president Josh Resnick said at the time. "But then we realized that we don't have a movie, so we just said, 'Aww hell, let's just make the game better.'"

Prior to the initial delay, the Venezuela Solidarity Network had petitioned U2 frontman Bono (pictured above) to cancel the title, as Bono was then a partial... Read more

Update: Pandemic has apparently denied any allegations that it changed aspects of Mercenaries 2 due to pressure from the Bono-obsessed Venezuela Solidarity Network.

"Pandemic Studios never has and never will be intimidated by tyrants," Pandemic president Josh Resnick told Shacknews. "Our invasion is on schedule: Mercenaries 2 will be released in early 2008."

Original Story: Remember the Venezuela Solidarity Network? The group that petitioned U2 frontman Bono (pictured above) to stop the development of Pandemic Studios' Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PC, PS3, PS3, X360)? Well, they never heard back from Bono, but with the game delayed until next year and some controversial elements seemingly addressed, they're still considering the campaign a minor success.

"Bono never responded directly," campaign activist Marie Davis admitted to venezuelanalysis, "but apparently our point hit home that financing a violent video game that targets a government already targeted by the Bush administration is counter to the reputation as a humanitarian that he has earned with his work on AIDS in Africa and debt relief. Pandemics[sic] began to change the story line soon after our letter was delivered."

The VSN's main point of contention was the game's apparent mirroring of real-life tensions between the United States and Venezuela. With the title set... Read more

Pandemic Studios has confirmed the rumored delay of its open-ended soldier for hire life simulator Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PC, PS2, PS3, X360).

"The easy answer is that we wanted to time it more closely to the movie," Pandemic co-founder and president Josh Resnick told IGN. "But then we realized that we don't have a movie, so we just said, 'Aww hell, let's just make the game better.'"

Previously scheduled for a holiday 2007 release, Mercenaries 2 is now expected in Q1 2008.

Shacknews has spoken with EA and Pandemic reps concerning a rumored delay in Pandemic's Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PC, PS2, PS3, X360). European gaming site TVG reported an EA UK representative confirming a delay into 2008 for the previously announced holiday 2007 title.

An EA rep told Shacknews that as of today, the title is still slated for a holiday 2007 release. A Pandemic rep gave a more ambiguous answer, saying the company has "made no announcements on a final release date for Mercenaries 2: World in Flames."

Though frequently listing unconfirmed and predicted release dates, games retail giant GameStop lists Mercenaries 2: World in Flames as having an April 1, 2008 release for all platforms.

A Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Q&A can be found at play.tm. Lead designer Scott Warner is asked about the addition of swimming, coop support, platform differences and the Venezuela setting.

Over at Computer & Video Games you can find a Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Q&A. Pandemic producer Jonathan Zamkoff is asked about co-op and other multiplayer support, game characters, PS2 support and working with EA.

IGN's UK division has posted a new Mercenaries 2: World in Flames preview, taking in a demonstration of the game at E3. You can find our impressions of the game here.

There's a Mercenaries 2: World in Flames preview on GameSpot, taking in Pandemic's open-world action game at E3.

Reporting from E3 like everyone else, GameSpy has a Mercenaries 2: World in Flames preview going hands-on with the action game sequel.

Also at IGN is this Mercenaries 2: World in Flames preview. The article offers hands-on impressions and includes new screenshots.

A new Mercenaries 2: World in Flames preview can be found at GameSpot, offering an overview of what the game will be about. Includes new screenshots.

Team Xbox has been updated with a Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Q&A. Lead designer Scott Warner talks storyline, characters, game structure, factions, new gameplay features and coop support.

Over at GameSpy you can find a Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Q&A. Lead designer Scott Warner is asked about fleshing out the experience on nextgen hardware, platform differences, coop support, returning characters, and easter eggs.

New at Eurogamer today is this Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Q&A. Pandemic's Scott Warner is asked about setting up your own military company, environmental damage, additional vehicles and weapons, coop support, side missions, and the game engine.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and his supporters have been quite vocal in their dissatisfaction that the events of Pandemic Studios' free-roaming destruct-a-thon Mercenaries 2: World in Flames--set for release this fall on PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC--take place in a virtual recreation of Venezuela. With those past complaints having little tangible effect, the Venezuela Solidarity Network is now asking religious leaders and secular-minded individuals to petition a seemingly unlikely target: U2 lead singer Bono.

Why Bono? The singer is a partner in Elevation Partners, the firm that acquired Bioware and Pandemic Studios in 2005, meaning Bono is in part funding development of the game. The VSN hopes that Bono's connection to Pandemic and his "efforts to erase the plagues of debt and famine from our planet" will give them the edge in their goal to "to see that 'Mercenaries 2' is pulled from stores and not sold anywhere."

Citing that "behavioral science research demonstrates that playing violent video games increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior," the VSN's letter states "a game like 'Mercenaries 2' in which the player assumes the role of killer in scenes that appear very life-like is even more likely to provoke aggressiveness." The group is also concerned "that the game inevitably will provoke increased tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela. Pandemic Studios has made a similar training game for the U.S. military. This fact is not overlooked by Venezuelans, who see this as further evidence of U.S. government hostility toward their country."

Mercenaries 2 "is just a video game--and as they say in the movies, all characters and events are purely fiction," Pandemic cofounder Josh Resnick told GameSpot. "Our setting provides gamers with the overall look and feel of Venezuela, although it is not an accurate street by street depiction and the characters as well as the storyline are completely made up. More to the point, the characters are categorically not based on any real political figures in Venezuela or elsewhere."

Resnick went on to describe the practice of setting fictional storylines in real places as a "common practice in the entertainment business [of] both movies and video games," claiming the situation "isn't any different than setting a movie like Goodfellas in New York."