Take-Two hose down GTA IV delay concerns, sort of

Mike Bantick
Tuesday, 13 November 2007 08:47

Your IT - Entertainment

It was supposed to be one of the biggest titles of 2007, now it is sure to be one of the biggest 2008 titles, but when?  Already delayed, there have been recent mutterings about further delays to Grand Theft Auto IV

Take-Two find it hard to stay out of the news, whether it’s fending off anti-violence advocates, or a ‘hot coffee’ controversy.

This is a much simpler controversy; the release delay of number four in the popular Grand Theft Auto series.

Seems that Take-Two Interactive chairman Strauss Zelnick has had his recent words at the 2007 BMO Capital Markets Interactive Entertainment Summit (phew!) misconstrued.

When quizzed about the giving a more accurate Q2 2008 release date for GTA IV, Zelnick answered; “The hardware penetration is going to grow over Christmas, and this is gonna be a must-have title, it's probably OK you're not selling it during the Christmas season.”

He ended his answer by saying, “We'll give a firm release date when we know we can stick to it.”

This lead to many commentators interpreting the statement as “We will release it when it is done!” – Similar comments have emanated from time to time from the development bunker for the –now comical – Duke Nukem Forever.  So, people put 2 and 2 together and come up with 22, expecting GTA IV to be further delayed.

Zelnick has since [kind of] clarified his words in a statement to GameSpot; "I wasn't intending to be newsworthy," Zelnick said of his response at the summit. "When asked about the release date, I confirmed the previous release date we'd given, which is our second fiscal quarter. That's to say sometime between the beginning of February and the end of April."

When again pressed about a possible release date he responded with "when it's ready."
"Obviously we want to make sure not to disappoint anyone, and we're going to give that date as soon as we feel very comfortable that we know the exact date within that three-month period that we outlined," Zelnick said.

In other words, the same answer he gave at the Summit!