Originally set to ship right around now, Valve delayed Portal 2 in June to "sometime in 2011." That date was later nailed down as February 9, 2011. Today the developer/publisher announced the new release date as April 18, 2011.
The brief, classic Valve press release reads:
VALVE ANNOUNCES SHORTEST DELAY IN VALVE HISTORYPortal 2 is being developed for Windows and Mac OS, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.
Valve today announced that Portal 2 -- the sequel to the ground-breaking title that won over 30 game of the year awards, despite missing its original ship date -- will now be available the week of April 18th, 2011. This two month slip not only marks the shortest delay in Valve's proud tradition of delays, it represents the approaching convergence of Valve Time and Real Time. Though this convergence spells doom for humanity, it will not affect the new Portal 2 release date.
Sharkey says: When you develop and publish your own critically acclaimed games, you ship them when they're ready. It's the Valve way, and no matter how frustrating that may be for fans waiting on Episode 3, the results speak for themselves.