Everyone is expect GTA 5 to launch this year, however according to Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia, we might need to wait until 2013...
Bhatia ran some retail channel checks alongside other forms of analysis and has come to the conclusion that Take-Two (parent company of Rockstar) might intend on launching GTA 5 is the fourth fiscal quarter — meaning the period from January to March 2013.
As Gamesindustry points out, while this means that Take-Two would still be able to count what will no doubt be sizeable earnings from the game's release in its year end results, GTA 5 would miss the Christmas/holiday season. But then again, Grand Theft Auto 4 was released well after the holiday period on 29 April 2008 — so capturing that period of holiday shopping isn't high up on the agenda for Take-Two.
In favour of the later release is also the fact it would mean GTA 5 does not compete with new releases in the Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty series of games, and that it might even be developed and released for the first next-generation console scheduled to arrive, the Nintendo Wii U (the Wii U is scheduled to launch in the 2012 holiday season).
I know we'd all love to see GTA 5 arrive this year, but how would you feel if the launch was "delayed" until early 2013?
