Gamespot dug up some dirt on Vivendi & Turbine's Middle Earth Online being delayed until 2005. "After two years in the shop, Middle-Earth Online apparently still needs more work. The game's publisher, VU Games, today informed select media outlets that the upcoming massively multiplayer title needed more time in development and would not make its previously scheduled October 2004 ship date. The new timetable sees ME-O arrive at retail sometime next year. The game's producer, Chris Taylor, said the decision was made jointly by both the developer and publisher, and that the parties had been thinking about tweaking the release date for some time."