David Jaffe and the team at Eat Sleep Play are taking a few more months with Twisted Metal's return, with the designer announcing the October 4 release date won't be happening. Instead, Twisted Metal's arriving early next year.

"It sucks bad when games miss their announced launch dates," said Jaffe on the PlayStation Blog. "We're gamers too and we know how annoying it is. It’s disappointing and frustrating and it really takes the wind out of your sails if you’re a fan that has been looking forward to playing a title for a long time. Thing is, you gotta trust me when I tell you that--with this extra time for tuning and polish--the game is going to be so much better than it already is."

You will have a chance to play Twisted Metal soon, though, if you're in Seattle or Germany, as the team is polishing up a new build of the game to show off at Gamescom and PAX, featuring a new game mode called Team Hunted.

Twisted Metal also recently ditched its ambitions for a T-rating. The ESRB came back and told East Sleep Play the game, in its current state, would earn an M. If you've seen the game before, it doesn't come across as particularly violent. That may change when we see the final game, as the developers are apparently embracing the M-rating and ratcheting up the violence.