Studio Games International has pushed back the release date for BioShock: Infinite.

Originally scheduled to come out in the fourth quarter of this year, the game’s release will instead be in February of 2013.

In a statement, creative director Ken Levine says the studio is working on several improvements to make the game “something even more extraordinary.”

“It means a bit more waiting, but more importantly, it means an even better BioShock Infinite,” says Levine in the statement. “The great can be made greater, and we owe it to both ourselves and to you, our fans, to take this opportunity.”

BioShock Infinite will also be absent from major video game events such as next month’s Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles and Gamescom in Germany, says Levine.

“BioShock Infinite is a very big game, and we’re doing things that no one has ever done in a first-person shooter,” says Levine. “We had a similar experience with the originalBioShock, which was delayed several months as our original ship date drew near. Why? Because the Big Daddies weren’t the Big Daddies you’ve since come to know and love. Because Andrew Ryan’s golf club didn’t have exactly the right swing. Because Rapture needed one more coat of grimy Art Deco. The same principle now applies to BioShock Infinite.”

The game stars agent Booker Dewitt and companion Elizabeth as they battle in the sky city of Columbia, set in an alternate version of the United States in 1912. It will be available for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.