The recently announced delay of Grand Theft Auto V has stirred up a few internet conspiracy theories that falsely explain why Rockstar Games had to push back the release of their flagship IP to September 2013. In an attempt to remind fans that missing initial launch dates is just a thing that Rockstar does with all their video games, the studio has issued a statement claiming that there are no “ulterior motives” behind the four month delay.
Rockstar made the statement on in the comment section of their website, saying:
“To those of you saying or seeing various conspiracy theories about there being some other ulterior motive for this delay, rest assured that they’re all nonsense – literally the only reason we’ve delayed the release is because we want the game to be as good as it needs to be.”
The most popular conspiracy theory as to why Take-Two delayed Grand Theft Auto V centers around the (completely justified) expectation that Microsoft and Sony will launch their next generation consoles later this year. Many fans have speculated that the delay is a signal that Rockstar has canceled development of GTA V for the Xbox 360 and PS3, and is now planning to release the game on their next-gen successors. Rockstar’s response on their website officially rules out that possibility.
Rockstar also reminded fans that just because they are disappointed with the news of Grand Theft Auto V‘s delay it does not give them the right to “be abusive in the comments”, and anyone who continues to do so will “have their privileges suspended”.
Basically, Rockstar wants the internet to play nice with each other and stop spreading conspiracy theories. Good luck with that one…
While I’m confident that GTA V will launch for the current generation systems, the game’s delayed release does raise some interesting questions as it relates to the launch of the next generation consoles. Most notably: If the Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 both release this Holiday season, will the September 17th launch of Grand Theft Auto V on the older consoles negatively impact next-gen hardware sales? Let us know your thoughts on that question in the comments below.