Grand Theft Auto V’s delay does not leave it at risk of being skipped over, according to
Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, due to the arrival of the next generation of consoles. Zelnick said that it’s going to be a stellar game and blow everyone away. The reason for the delay is so that it can be even better than the game that people expect.
“There’s not one gamer who’s going sit it out on Grand Theft Auto 5 and wait for something better,” he said in an interview with
Edge. Zelnick added, “In terms of strategy around current-gen and next-gen, we have to wait for the announcements. We’re planning as well as we can, and we think we’re very well positioned.” That’s not a definitive statement to say that it won’t be on the next generation of consoles, but maybe that’s just wishful thinking on our part.
Rockstar previously dismissed “conspiracy theories” regarding the delay, although that could have been with regard to one of the console manufacturers attempting to make Grand Theft Auto an exclusive title on their next-generation consoles. Rockstar’s statement read, “To those of you saying or seeing various conspiracy theories about there being some other ulterior motive for this delay, rest assured that they’re all nonsense.” Rockstar also explained that it wants to make the game as good as it can be.
Perhaps we are doing too much reading between the lines, or simply ignoring what is there, but we could see Grand Theft Auto V on the next generation of consoles yet. On the other hand, if Rockstar gets its release in before the next-generation, and doesn’t release on these platforms, it will act as the last hurrah for many gamers. It is unlikely that Grand Theft Auto V would be included with new consoles as part of a bundle deal, so Rockstar can get its sales in before people spend hundreds on a new system and then get choosy over titles. For now, we’ll have to play the waiting game…