Update: Epic Games VP Mark Rein has chimed in, noting that the delay is a precaution and Epic hopes to ship the PlayStation 3 version of Unreal Tournament 3 by the year's end.

"As a public company, Midway felt an obligation to its shareholders to let them know about the possibility of a delay," Rein posted on Epic's forums. "But our goal is still to get the PS3 version of UT3 in stores before the end of 2007. However, we will only ship it once itÂ’s ready and is the best game we can deliver. The PC version is still on track for a November release."

Rein later noted the game may arrive in December, and as a result of the extra development time, will feature all of the same maps as the PC version.

"Our expected product plan is to release UT3 on PC in November and the PS3 UT3 in Q1 2008," Midway CEO David Zucker told Shacknews in response. Zucker elaborated that the company would ship the PS3 edition earlier if it was done and noted that it has yet to specify details regarding the Xbox 360 release.

Original Story: Previously announced to arrive this November, the PlayStation 3 edition of Epic Games' Unreal Tournament 3 has been delayed until Q1 2008. Publisher Midway revealed the shift today in a financial update, the PC version is unaffected by the change and is still slated for a November release, collector's edition and all.

"While we regret that these delays will cause us to lose some valuable holiday sales in the near term as well as shift revenue for some of these titles out of 2007 and into 2008, we remain confident that our technology strategy and product plan position us to grow both revenue and market share as we move into the heart of this console cycle," said Midway president and CEO David Zucker.

The keyboard and mouse-enabled PS3 edition of Unreal Tournament 3 was formerly trumpeted as a 2007 exclusive for the console and was listed among the many titles to support the upcoming Dual Shock 3 controller and its rumble functionality. The PS3 rendition now joins the Xbox 360 iteration in its relatively vague 2008 release.

Along with the delay, Midway revealed its plans for two "ambitious open world games" and to debut Mortal Kombat and Blitz on unspecified "next generation" hardware. Given that JGI Entertainment and Midway already brought Mortal Kombat to the Wii with Armageddon, the company is undoubtedly referring to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 iterations.

"Looking ahead to 2008, with our core technology platform now in place, we expect to release a number of titles," Zucker continued. "We also expect to release several as-yet unannounced titles such as next generation versions of our hit franchises Blitz and Mortal Kombat, and two exciting new ambitious open world games. We intend to give more details on our 2008 release schedule in the near future."

With the PS3 version of Unreal Tournament 3 pushed back and the PS3 edition of Midway Chicago and Tiger Hill Entertainment's Stranglehold (PC, PS3, X360) moved into Q4, the company has refined its estimated earnings for Q3 and Q4 2007.

Other factors influencing Midway's expected revenues include lowered estimated sales of the Midway Austin-developed BlackSite: Area 51 (PC, PS3, X360), the European PS3 release of which has been delayed until Q1 2008. The North American version arrives on PC and Xbox 360 in early November--presumably November 5, as previously announced--with the PS3 edition now shipping later in the month.

Based off the above changes, Midway now expects a third quarter revenue of $39 million and its total revenue for fiscal year 2007 to hit $170 million. The company previously estimated it would earn $50 million in Q3 and $225 million across the entire year.