GTA V slips to (at least) September January 31, 2013

The release of GTA V has been pushed back to September. At least. This has to count as a delay, so there’s a significant risk of another slip occurring. Gamers are sulking, while investors are selling shares in the distributor, Take Two Interactive.

Grand Theft Auto V has been a long time coming. Its predecessor, the appropriately-named GTA IV, was released in April 2008, so we’re staring down more than five years between the two titles. 

That’s an epic wait for a sequel, even by Rockstar standards. Especially as any more slippage and there’s a high probability the next-gen will have started by the time the game sees the light of the day.There’s a slim chance that the new hardware on the horizon is the reason for this delay, but it’s unlikely. The game has already been announced for the PS3 and Xbox 360, so it would have taken some kind of covert, under-the-radar operation for either Sony or Microsoft to influence the timing of the release. And bags of cash too.

Assuming that isn’t the case it’s likely to just be about trying to finish the game in time. Rockstar said as much in a blog post explaining the decision:

“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. 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.”

GTA V was originally announced in October 2011. It then took a full year for Rockstar to announce a vague release date of “Q2 2013.” A few months on and we have “September 17″ announced as the actual date. Regardless of timing, Grand Theft Auto V is guaranteed to sell well, with the previous installment selling 22 million copies worldwide.

The delay has annoyed many gamers who were expecting an earlier release, and Take Two shares dropped around 6 percent after the news broke.