Eurogamer claims anonymous sources have reported this is "the final time" Microsoft is willing to delay it.

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Announced during E3 2014, Crackdown 3's first release window was 2016, but it was pushed back to November 2017 for a planned launch alongside the Xbox One X. But following lukewarm receptions at E3 and Gamescom 2017, Crackdown 3 was again delayed to 2018 . But that wasn't to be either. Last month, Microsoft officially pushed the game back to February 22, 2019. Eurogamer's new report attempts to sort through this rocky development cycle with on-the-record interviews with Microsoft and the various studios developing Crackdown 3."It's hard to move games," Executive Vice President of Gaming at Microsoft Phil Spencer told Eurogamer . "There's no doubt about that. It's expensive. You have to make sure the team has the energy for it, so it takes time to go and have all of the discussions, make sure you're saying you've got clear ownership and leadership in place for the important issues. But we made the decision we were going to move the game because we wanted to give it the time to be right."They also wanted to launch Crackdown 3 at the right time, meaning one as far away from Red Dead Redemption 2 as possible. Spencer admitted as much, while also naming a number of other big holiday games – most of which are annual releases – he wanted Crackdown to avoid. The bad news for Crackdown 3 is that the publishers behind a number of other high-profile games had the same idea, and Q1 2019 is now packed with Kingdom Hearts 3, the Resident Evil 2 remake, Anthem, The Division 2, and more.But nearly five years after its announcement, Crackdown 3 may finally be out of options for other release windows. IGN has reached out to Microsoft for comment on its appetite – or lack thereof – for further Crackdown 3 delays and will update this story should they issue a response.In the meantime, Crackdown fans can read about Crackdown 3's identity crisis and about the franchise creator's take on his departure from Crackdown 3 development

Nick Santangelo is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. He loves video games and sports, but not sports video games. Follow him on Twitter