Halo creator Bungie's new universe has a release date. Today, Bungie and Activision have announced that Destiny will launch worldwide on September 9th, 2014.

If you've been watching the epic sci-fi / fantasy shooter closely, you might note the new release date counts as a bit of a delay. Destiny was originally slated for next spring, and the company appears to explain the decision to push the game back in a blog post announcing the release date.

"We promised to redefine what players should expect from a Bungie game. We said we wanted to change the way people play games together. We set our bar high. For us, Destiny represents a once in a lifetime opportunity," Bungie writes, while hinting that the game wasn't yet living up to the team's expectations.

"We believe this is the right decision for our game, our studio, and our passionate community."

Gamers won't necessarily have to wait till September 9th to try the game, though. The company will release a public beta next summer, starting on Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 thanks to a limited exclusivity period. The beta will come to Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Xbox One as well, and the full game should launch on all four platforms.