Skip to main content

Take-Two Interactive rocked as Grand Theft Auto V is delayed to September 2013

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Microsoft and Sony are expected to announce brand new video game consoles sometime in the next six months. Market analysts expect the Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4, or the Durango and Orbis as they’re often called in rumors, will hit shelves in time for the Christmas season. With few tent pole games announced for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for that time frame, the assumption is that Microsoft, Sony, and their publishing partners are holding off.

There will be at least one banner release for those machines in the fall of 2013, though: Grand Theft Auto V will hit shelves on September 17th, 2013. GTA’s millions of fans are bound to be excited that Rockstar will finally release a new entry in its signature series but Take-Two Interactive shareholders have already been stung by the game’s delays.

Recommended Videos

“We know this is about four months later than originally planned and we know that this short delay will come as a disappointment to many of you, but, trust us, it will be worth the extra time,” reads a statement on Rockstar’s website, “GTAV is a massively ambitious and complex game and it simply needs a little more polish to be of the standard we and, more importantly, you require.”

Grand Theft Auto V was originally expected to ship sometime in 2012. When 2K Games’ BioShock Infinite was delayed into 2013 prior to E3 2012, the expectation was that the delay was meant to not just allow more polishing for that title but to keep the market clear for GTAV in the fall of that year. This turned out to not be the case, and GTAV’s continued absence from the market took a severe toll on Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two Interactive. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick pegged the company’s nearly $108 million loss for fiscal year 2012 on having to delay the game.

When Rockstar confirmed the game was delayed into 2013, Take-Two was forced to downgrade its earnings expectations for fiscal 2013 from around $1.8 billion to just $1.2 billion. If pushing GTA V into this year cost the company an estimated $600 million, how much will this new delay cost the company as it heads into a fall where consumers will be focused on new hardware? The delay is already causing damage. Take-Two stock dove following the Thursday announcement. As of this writing, Take-Two shares are down 7 pecent

Grand Theft Auto V will benefit from some spit and shine since its predecessor shipped with a number of bugs and glitches. The game will be better for it. The question is whether Rockstar and Take-Two can afford the delay.

Anthony John Agnello
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
GTA 5 cheats: codes and phone numbers PS4, PS5, Xbox, and PC
Trevor, Michael, and Franklin are all holding guns in GTA 5 promotional art.

A slam-dunk of a game for the talented developers at Rockstar, Grand Theft Auto 5 has been out for several years now, but it’s still an extremely popular title. Grand Theft Auto 6 may be on the way next year, but GTA 5 is still a worthwhile game to dive into.

If you’ve ever played a GTA game, you’ll know the going can get a little tough from time to time. This is why it’s nice to live in a world with cheat codes. 

Read more
Grand Theft Auto 6 is unaffected by the video game voice actors strike
Lucia and her partner rob a store in GTA 6.

A lot of games will be affected by the SAG-AFTRA video game actors strike, but one of the most anticipated games of the next few years isn't one of them. In a statement to Kotaku, it was confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 6 isn't impacted by the strike.

“I can confirm GTA 6 is exempt,” a spokesperson for the publishers named in ongoing conversations said. The publication also learned that any games that were in development before September 2023 are unaffected, since that's when the union voted to authorize the strike.

Read more
Grand Theft Auto 5 story DLC was cut due to ‘cash cow’ GTA Online, dev says
Trevor firing an assault rifle in GTA 5.

Despite us being close to the Grand Theft Auto 6 launch, we're still getting news and anecdotes from Grand Theft Auto 5's development. According to a former Rockstar Games developer, the game was set to get a story DLC, but that it was canceled in favor of GTA Online.

Joe Rubino guested on the SanInPlay YouTube channel, and you can watch the whole interview below. Rubino, who was an editor and did second-unit directing on the DLC, described it as "kickass" and "awesome," but said that the success of GTA Online meant leaders at the company didn't think it was worth investing in both projects. He didn't offer up details on specifics, but said that Trevor actor Steven Ogg was involved.

Read more