After Bungie announced last week that Halo 2 won't be released until the fall, gamers consoled themselves with the fact that Half-Life 2 was still set for a spring release.

　　It looks like that may no longer be the case.

　　In his latest Game Over column, CNN/Money correspondent Chris Morris quotes Valve director of marketing Doug Lombardi as saying the developer is "is currently targeting this summer for the completion of Half-Life 2." Last October, VU Games, Half-Life 2's publisher, had said the game would be released in April 2004. As to the new ship date's veracity, a VU Games spokesperson would only confirm Lombardi's quote. "He said that," said the representative, "but VU is officially not commenting on the release date." E-mails to Lombardi were not returned as of press time.

　　If true, the delay would be just the latest setback in Half-Life 2's long, bumpy road to release. For those just emerging from cryogenic sleep, the game has suffered several delays, both before and after hackers stole part of its source code last September. Subsequently, pirated copies of the game have reportedly hit the black market in Russia.