According to SSX Creative Director Todd Batty, the decision to move the release date was a team decision to give the game a “final bit of polish” prior to release. While Batty might be right that the game needed some extra polish before release, that might only be part of the story. Namely, February 14th was slated to be a big release day for a couple of other titles, and SSX was running the risk of having to compete against other titles for gamers’ dollars on the same launch day.
Instead of sharing the same launch day with the new Brothers in Arms, UFC Undisputed 3, and EA’s own Grand Slam Tennis 2, the February 28th release date is basically clear for SSX with no other high profile titles being released on that day.