Microsoft's sci-fi RPG, Mass Effect, has slipped back to January 2008 according to retailer GAME's website.

The game was initially expected in June, before dropping back to September. While a September release – dropping it in front of Christmas rather than summer – would probably not have hurt the game's sales, a delay until January and the post-Greedmas doldrums almost certainly will.

SPOnG has put a call into Microsoft today to see whether this is merely a clerical error, or another slab of slippage.

Mass Effect joins a growing list of big releases that have slipped beyond their expected release date.

In the last few months we've seen Halo 2 for the PC, BioShock, Mario Party 8, Metal Gear Solid 4, Half Life Episode 2, Guitar Hero 2 for the 360 and Spore, all slip.

That list begs the question: what's the game industry playing at? It's mature enough by now to have worked out how long it takes to build a game.

SPOnG will be thoroughly unsurprised if we start to see the PR machine getting more and more tight-lipped about release dates, with internment camps set up for loose-lipped developers and execs who can't keep schtum.

For more on Mass Effect see SPOnG's dedicated game page.