Take-Two recently delayed Max Payne 3 to a May 2012 release, and that makes their release schedule all the more dense and crowded, with the likes of Borderlands 2, BioShock: Infinite, The Darkness II, Spec Ops: The Line, XCOM and XCOM: Enemy Unknown also releasing this year. Considering this, fans have been skeptical of a 2012 release for GTA 5, much less a May release. However, analysts believe the game will still release in fiscal year 2012, that is before April 2013.
“It seems unlikely that Rockstar Games would launch both Max Payne 3 and GTA 5 in the month on May,” National Alliance Capital Markets analyst Mike Hickey said while speaking with Game Informer. “Therefore, we have shifted our original expectation for GTA V to launch in May 2012, into the Company’s 2013 fiscal second-half operating period.
“We remain confident GTA V will ship in calendar year ’12, based on an assumption that Rockstar is using a sub 12 month marketing window for GTA V and the company’s fiscal 2013 performance guidance, which would suggest the game’s release.”
“[Take-Two] are still saying they will achieve $2.00 earnings per share in fiscal 2013,” said EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich, “so Grand Theft Auto V has to come out by March 2013.”
Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter said, “
“Although GTA V may still launch in FY:13, predicting the actual release date is difficult due to a crowded pipeline.
“I don’t know if [Max Payne’s delay] means a full year gap, but very likely six months. Too bad, as I think Grand Theft Auto V would benefit from giving Call of Duty some breathing room.”
Well, the analysts pretty much nailed it (that’s why they’re analysts, after all). It seems unlikely that GTA 5 will be released a few months after Mac Payne 3, but a Holiday 2012 release doesn’t seem too far-fetched.
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