Grand Theft Auto V officially arrives in Spring 2013

In a short missive posted this morning to the official Rockstar Games website, the company has revealed that Grand Theft Auto V will hit retail shelves at some point during the Spring of 2013. Further, Rockstar also states that come November 5, you’ll be able to walk into any gaming retailer and drop whatever amount of cash and personal details they deem necessary to pre-order the open-world game.

If “Spring” seems like an odd time to release a new sequel in a series that has a tendency to smash all kinds of sales records and pull in ludicrous amounts of profit, well, you’re correct. If this were any other developer we’d slam this decision and wonder why the company wouldn’t rather release Grand Theft Auto V just prior to the lucrative holiday season. Of course, given that this is Rockstar, this is perfectly in keeping with the company’s history. Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar’s take on old-west cowboy drama, was released on May 18, 2010, while Grand Theft Auto IV first appeared on April 29, 2008. Both of those games sold like hotcakes made of ambrosia, a feat that was no doubt boosted by the fact that these Spring release dates free Rockstar’s games from having to compete with the dozens of big-name titles that hit  store shelves immediately prior to Christmas.

While we still know very little about Grand Theft Auto V, Rockstar concludes its announcement by saying that “fans can expect a host of new information to become available in November.” So, expect magazine spreads, commercials and massive retrospectives on the Grand Theft Auto series as a whole to crop up every few days for roughly the next six months. Hopefully this is yet another Rockstar title that proves itself worth the pre-release hype, because we have a feeling that the PR push on this game is going to be crazy-huge. Those of you who abhor street violence and mob movie stereotypes should probably avoid mass media until sometime next June.

Of course, if you can’t wait for the PR blitz to commence, Rockstar also released a largely meaningless, but nonetheless attractive poster alongside today’s announcement. You can find the entire thing below.