Today, Rockstar Games announced that its upcoming open-world western Red Dead Redemption 2 will be delayed into spring of 2018. The game was originally revealed in late 2016 and was scheduled to release later this year. That however is no longer the case.

In a statement on their website, Rockstar said the following about the game's delay:

Red Dead Redemption 2 is now set to launch Spring 2018 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. This outlaw epic set across the vast and unforgiving American heartland will be the first Rockstar game created from the ground up for the latest generation of console hardware, and some extra time is necessary to ensure that we can deliver the best experience possible for our fans.

We are very sorry for any disappointment this delay causes, but we are firm believers in delivering a game only when it is ready. We are really excited to bring you more details about the game this summer.

While delays are always disappointing, Rockstar did decide to give fans a little something to make up for it. Below you can find seven new screenshots that Rockstar has released as a show of goodwill to fans. The images are highly detailed and showcase a variety of the locations that we will see in the sequel.

Delays are never fun, but it's always worth it in the end if it improves the game. And besides, 2017 is full of incredible games already. Adding Red Dead Redemption 2 to that slate of games would've been insane. At least we know that there's something good waiting for us in early 2018.

Stay tuned in the coming months as Rockstar says we will learn more about Red Dead Redemption 2 this summer.