Not that it's terribly hard to guess, of course. A lack of ready cash is almost almost certainly the reason that Guild Wars 2 is getting shoved into a "2010/2011" release, instead of debuting later this year as was previously planned. While City of Heroes and City of Villains are doing ok, Oro en WoW the pricey-to-develop Tabula Rasa is all but dead.  NCSoft's Profits were down 40% during 2008, to $20 million. Not a bad haul, but not a great one overall.

Then again, maybe Guild Wars 2's new engine is to blame for the hold up. It, along with a much-requested Z axis, was meant to add to the new game's appeal and help distinguish it from its predecessor.

It will be interesting to see if a similar fate befalls Aion:The Tower of Eternity, which is also due out by the end of the year though.