Bioshock 2 coming in late 2009

Much more on Take-Two Interactive earnings to come soon, but I had to post right away that the publisher has set a release date for the widely known but never before confirmed "Bioshock 2":  the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2009, which means between August and October of that year.

As expected, it's being made in the recently formed 2K Marin studio up in northern California, which has some transplants from 2K Boston and 2K Australia, which made the first "Bioshock," but not the original game's creative director and public face Ken Levine.

If you thought "Bioshock" was as genius as I did, you're very excited for early fall 2009 and also a bit nervous whether a sequel can live up to the original's greatness, or its awesome level of innovation.

Take-Two also confirmed during the its conference call with analysts that Ken Levine, creative director of the first "Bioshock," "will be working on 'Bioshock 2,'" but also noted that he's working on a new game at his studio 2K Boston and didn't indicate how involved he will be in the sequel. Sounds like it'll just be a consulting gig.

(For the "much more," check out my story on Take-Two's earnings and the latest on Electronic Arts' bid right here.)