Electronic Arts has announced that the hellbound horror fest that is Dante’s Inferno won’t be arriving until 2010 at the very earliest. Damnation!

But every cloud etc, and there’s comfort for the afflicted with the news that an animated feature film will also be released around the same time to “expand” the whole storyline. Production duties fall to Starz Media - the same team behind Space Chimps and the X-rated Bronx Bunny. Oh, and they’re the guys who made the Dead Space spin-offs too.

So that’s something to look forward to in 2010. We guess we should be thankful that EA has even hinted at a release date window - 12 months wide open as it is - since it’s the first time they’ve actually done so. 2010’s still the best part of a year away, though, so how about expanding the storyline for yourselves in the meantime? Check out Dante Alighieri’s epic poem ‘The Divine Comedy‘, which inspired the game, or gorge your mince pies on Gustav Doré’s awesome wood engravings of the same and realise the awesome graphical opportunity that’s been kinda missed here.