Originally posted by GunsForBucks:

Originally posted by Irongate Smiffe:

Pretty much spot on =)

I guess what bothers me, if this is the only reason, is that even if you feel it is ready to ship out you won't release it until that date.

Giving a firm date has an equal chance of holding up the delivery rather than just putting it out whenever you feel it is ready.

There are always i's to dot and t's to cross when doing releases (even for an EA from a small indy).

And, if it is anything like when I'm preparing releases for the company I work in, there are always a few small, last minute issues that crop up that would be nice to sort out before release (but aren't always blockers for the release)...

Also - given that they've just taken some new staff on, this is a perfect time to bring them up to speed, and get them set up for bug fixing post-release (which is, in my experience, a good way to get people acquainted with a code-base without too much risk).