O2 UK Delays Xperia Play Launch Date

We’ve been talking about the Xperia Play for months now. Years, even. But customers hoping to grab the phone on O2 UK will have to wait even longer for the PlayStation Phone as the carrier has just announced a delay in its release.

Originally slated for an April 1 launch (that’s this Friday for those of you with no desktop calendar), O2 today revealed that the phone will be delayed for a few weeks while they work out some bugs in the software.

Stuart Hibbard explained that O2’s device tesing team found several bugs during the testing process and has been working with Sony to get them ironed out in time for Friday. However, it seems getting it all done by Friday will be a tall order and Hibbard hasn’t said when we can expect the phone to be released. He does mention that they’ll be working with Sony Ericsson "over the next couple of weeks to fix the bugs," so here’s hoping we still see an April launch.

O2’s getting an exclusive white version of the Xperia Play so if you’ve got your heart set on that, you’ll definitely be waiting. However, if you don’t mind hopping to a different network, the Xperia Play is going to be sold across multiple carriers and through a wide range of retail channels. You might not see any Xperia Plays in O2 this Friday but you’ll see them pretty much everywhere else in the coming weeks.