After the excitement of an impending new Grand Theft Auto launch this spring, comes the disappointment of a delayed release.
Rockstar announced that the game, released initially on Xbox 360 and PSP3 would now only be available from September 17th 2013, but what are the real reasons for this?
There have been a number of conspiracy theories around this, the main two of which are:
- A tie-in to new game consoles coming later in the year, in particular the PS4 and potentially an Xbox 720 – understandable given the game is being planned for PS3 and Xbox 360 and after a huge investment why not delay and then launch on the new platform getting additional marketing support from Sony or indeed Microsoft as it will be a launch title of the new console.
- To build the hype and expectation to even further levels generating a new wave of stories about the game (guilty as charged)
Rockstar themselves say the reason is much more simple, it’s down to quality and, knowing the other GTA games, quantity.
Trust us, it will be worth the extra time. 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. To all Grand Theft Auto fans, please accept our apologies for the delay, and our promise that the entire team here is working very hard to make the game all it can be. We are doing all we can to help ensure it will meet if not exceed your expectations come September – we thank you for your support and patience.
So, should we be cynical and put it down to a marketing and console strategy or take Rockstar at their word?
The long and short of it, is that GTA games are hugely expensive and time-consuming to make and to release a sub-standard version would be hugely damaging to the franchise and Rockstar’s profits, so better to delay and release the best game possible whatever the platform.
After the wait, it had better be. No pressure, guys…
You can pre-order it on Xbox 360 here and PlayStation 3 here.
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