Analysts: Grand Theft Auto V To Release Before April 2013

With the delay of Max Payne 3 throwing a spanner into the works yesterday, many wondered what kind of impact the date change would have upon the release of Grand Theft Auto V

by Sammy Barker Wed 18th Jan 2012

According to analysts, Grand Theft Auto V could still drop before March 2013.

Industry analysts believe the effects will be minor, with most predicting that the crime simulator will still arrive during publisher Take Two's 2013 Fiscal Year (ending March 31st, 2013).

It seems unlikely that Rockstar Games would launch both Max Payne 3 and GTA 5 in the month of May, said Mike Hickey of National Alliance Capital Markets. Therefore, we have shifted our original expectation for GTA V to launch in May 2012, into the companys 2013 fiscal second-half operating period (release window: September 2012 March 2013)."

Despite this, Hickey believes that there's still a chance that Grand Theft Auto V could release during this calendar year.

We remain confident GTA V will ship in calendar year 2012, based on an assumption that Rockstar is using a sub 12 month marketing window for GTA V and the companys fiscal 2013 performance guidance, which would suggest the games release.

EEDAR's Jesse Divinch agreed, stating that Take Two "are still saying they will achieve $2.00 earnings per share in fiscal 2013, so Grand Theft Auto V has to come out by March 2013".

But Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter argued that predicting Grand Theft Auto V's release is tough due to Take Two's "crowded pipeline". He did however indicate that the game could "benefit from giving Call of Duty some breathing room".

We gave up on trying to second guess Rockstar Games a long, long time ago.

[source gameinformer.com]