GTA IV gets delayed until second quarter '08

by Colin Torretta { Aug 2nd 2007 at 5:10PM }

Wow, well this was unexpected. Reuters news service is reporting that GTA IV has been delayed until the second quarter of 2008 in order to polish up the title. After this announcement, Take-Two shares dropped fairly sharply as the market reacted to the significance of the news. Because GTA IV won't be coming out this year, Take-Two had to change their financial goals from a profit to a loss for this year -- never something investors like.

The delay of one of the most significant games of the year will also have interesting repercussions across the industry as a whole. Though the fall/winter release schedule is pretty darn packed with titles already, GTA IV was easily one of the biggest and most anticipated games of the holiday season. The sudden hole it leaves in the October schedule will allow for some smaller titles to get more attention than they would have beforehand, which will make other game publishers quite happy. How about you guys? Would you prefer rough GTA IV in October, or a more polished GTA experience in 6-8 months?

[Thanks Glenn!]

Tags: delay, GTAIV, rockstar, take-two

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Jason B. @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:17PM

Does any PS3 owner seriously care at this point? Graphically polished or not, we still aren't getting the "complete" game.

never$$hort @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:20PM

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! and I thought Lair getting delayed was bad.... WTF??!?!?! This game better be all its cracked up to be + more if they are delaying it!!!

aj @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:20PM

yes thank god! gta was messing me up with all the other games i wanted. like medal of honor airborne, assassins creed, mercenaries 2, and Call of duty 4. now i will have time to play those games which otherwise i would have been busy with gta.

iNime @ Aug 3rd 2007 10:40AM

As Nelson says... 'Hnaah hnaaah"

Andy @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:21PM

This I can live with. As long as it is both versions.

davebo @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:26PM

Okay, I declare this entire generation of consoles a gigantic failure. If these consoles are giving developers such a hard time, how about we go back to releasing GTA on the pc like they used to. It's always the best looking on pc's anyway, and I can switch between my usb-ps2 controller and keyboard+mouse so easily.

JJ @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:31PM

This must have something to do with the difficulties that Rockstars had with developing the game for the 360!!! Also the 360 build shown at E3 was very unimpressive and had many issues!!! Looks like us Ps3 owners suffer again because of the Shitbox!!!

coalhalo @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:37PM

Holy fuckin shite! I recently pre-ordered the CE edition from Amazon, and was really looking forward to playing GTAIV in a few months. But now this bombshell. It's another kick in the nuts for Take-Two. Especially since they have been so adamant about the release date. It's comical.

Jldowning @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:42PM

Im willing to be its the issues they have sited with the lack of DVD space and hard drives in all 360s. Why must the PS3 owner suffer for the 360's shitness....

GRT @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:44PM

I'm probably the one person that reads this blog that doesn't give a fig about GTAIV.

Actually to me this is good news because it might mean other good titles that might've otherwise been overlooked will get some attention.

DarkTravesty @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:48PM

@1@6@8 : yeah totally when the xbox 360 one was the one they kept showing [i] in all the trailers![/i] yeah that must be why. fucking grow up.

Justin @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:49PM

They should just release it on the PS3 this year...

seeing as how it STARTED on Playstation 2...

Rockstar...you guys....

Jason @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:49PM

A bit of wishful thinking here. Maybe its delayed so they can work solely on the PS3 version and make it as good as it can be. Perhaps the 360 version is already in the can but because it will be so disappointing they are holding it back so it won't ruin the PS3 version's sales. eh? well, maybe.

Kspraydad @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:51PM

Maybe it is delayed so they can launch PS3/Xbox AND Wii versions all at the same time.

;)

Jason B. @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:54PM

Travesty, what does your comment have to do with anything that I said? My comment has to do with the fact Rockster said the 360 version is the "complete" version of the game with the expansion packs that it will get and we won't. It had absolutely nothing to do with how the game looks.

And I don't appreciate your language either. If you are going to tell something to grow up, you should first take your own advice.

AlanS17 @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:54PM

MS is paying for additional content and Sony isn't. So if even if the PS3 version was ready and the 360 wasn't, I doubt they'd release it for one system before the other.

That's only assuming that the problem lies within the additional content. It may very well be some problem that plagues every version of the game.

Or maybe they were afraid of all the competition considering the really strong line-up of games across the board coming out this year.

Jason B. @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:56PM

I meant Rockstar, not Rockster.

Gunegune @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:57PM

Oh well, so much for the "biggest" holiday season since 2004. GTA IV hasn't impressed me much, so being pushed back doesn't really bother me.

Maybe it'll allow other games stand out more this holiday season, though, it'll probably suffer in sales.

Dasgooch @ Aug 2nd 2007 5:59PM

Wow you people over here on PS3FB are seriously stupid. Because an article from the AP says its delayed you naturally assume its because of the Xbox 360 dev side? Get real. Rockstar already has some experiance on the 360 with table tennis and none with the PS3. If anything I would point to the PS3 holding it back or... just maybe they are having a problem not specific to either... i know its a tough pill to take but it could just be Rockstar's fault and no one else's.... (queue dramatic music and fanboy crying)

cj @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:10PM

@10 Well it goes to show how much of a idiot you truly are!!! Rockstars have said themselves that the 360 is hindering the ps3 version!! READ THIS ARTICLE:
http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/785/785344p1.html
Also if you also read the facts about the "showcased" versions on the 360 u would know that these were horrible builds with very bad framerates and the pop up (For buildings etc) that gta is famous for was very bad as well!!! So before you come on here telling people to grow up maybe you should learn the facts first!!!!

Ian @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:10PM

JJ and the others - grow up.

The real reason? Well I've heard it from some in the know that Rockstar San Diego (who have written the core game engine for GTAIV) optimised it for the PC and have had such difficulties porting it to the PS3 CELL architecture that it's currently doing 6 - 8 fps with hardly any audio running at the same time. It's got so bad that SCE have sent some of their own major R&D staff up to Rockstar to fix/port the engine codebase. That's why there's a delay.

It has nothing to do with your fanboyish cries about the "Sh*tbox" and stuff. Grow up you muppets. If anything it's the PS3 that's holding it back. (for the record I own a 360, PS3 and Wii, so don't go accusing me of any bias)

wonderwes @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:11PM

I would hope this delay it to inc. more multiplayer features into the game. I dont mind waiting if turns out to be the best GTA game ever made.

humpty @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:15PM

It will be the first "HDD Required" game for 360 in north America.

cj @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:16PM

ian dont give us that crap that you know somebody cause it really shows how childish you truly are!!! Rockstars have already said the 360 is hindering development!!!

Jason B. @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:27PM

Ian, Rockstar announced that they have engineers from both Microsoft and Sony helping with the project.

doug @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:24PM

I also know someone who knows your guy thats in the know and he says he knows you are stupid, yknow

Colin.Torretta @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:30PM

Everybody:
I know we're all sad/annoyed about the delay of GTA IV, but lay off the console wars a bit. This isn't about the 360 or the PS3 being harder to develop for, otherwise only one version would be delayed. This is Rockstar recognizing that the game needs more work and doing what is necessary.

I'm going to start deleting further console war comments, because they don't help anything and just get people worked up over nothing.

Thanks everybody!

-Colin.Torretta

cj @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:32PM

i just read the same thing too jason!!! i bet with the sony engineers there the ps3 should have a better looking game that runs better due to the ps3 having a built in hard drive and bigger capacity on the discs!!

Tom32 @ Aug 2nd 2007 7:19PM

Don't really mind since their are so many others great games coming out this holiday season.

stacy daniels @ Aug 2nd 2007 7:27PM

aint a second quarter a Half...i dont care as long as finshed and not buggy

gooftroop @ Aug 2nd 2007 7:42PM

@ Ian

"I heard from my moms friend whose son is best friends with someone who has a high up position in Rockstar San Diego (who have written the core game engine for GTAIV) optimised it for the PC and have had such difficulties porting it to the 360 architecture and due to lack of hard disk drive and optical media based storage that it's currently doing 6 - 8 fps with hardly any audio running at the same time. It's got so bad that MS have sent some of their own major R&D staff up to Rockstar to fix/port the engine codebase. That's why there's a delay.

It has nothing to do with your fanboyish cries about the "PS3" and stuff. Grow up you muppets. If anything it's the 360 that's holding it back. (for the record I own a 360, PS3 and Wii, so don't go accusing me of any bias BECAUSE I OWN THEM ALL!)"

Friend of a friend/someone in the know stories are 99% of the time made up rubbish - if you have factual information cite your credible sources as you seem to be more in the know than every gaming/news site out there!

MYPS3KilledMy360 @ Aug 2nd 2007 7:44PM

@20 can i get a link to your claims ps3fanboys have links get me a link. the 360 arch. is very similar pc games so its like some devs had had there hands on it for a long time thats the best thing MS thought of. the reason why games showcase on the 360 is because they have a bigger fanbase and that meens a broader audience we all already know MS is willing to drop some cash. the 50 million didnt only cover the extra content it probably went towards this delay something to keep R* warm at night because if killzone 2 only cost 20 million im damn sure extra content doesnt cost that much. the 360 seems to be the most likely to hold things back because of the dvd they possibly modified the story, the draw distance that affected games like saints row and oblivion( looking at oblivion now its starting to lose its luster and size it once had) will probably effect a title as big as GTAIV which will boast having great lighting, physics and more textures than oblivion had with a bigger play ground by trying to fit new york city and staten island while generating 1000's of people and cars on one dual layer dvd. with the lack of HDD in every system that too will pose a problem, without being able cache data this wont be pretty in the 360. so i guess there delaying the game until they get rid of the core because who the f wants a core anymore and then there gonna change there policy on not requiring to have a HDD. the extra content will be most likely be in the PS3 version and what ever couldnt fit on the 360 its kind of like when R* said both games will have exclusive content then it changed to be identical then it changed to 360 exclusive content this time change is in ps3 favor you cant believe everything you hear this info is just what looks obvious to me. $50 million for extra content and some of the money R* lost on not releasing it this year because of the 360 and they want the love for the game to stay high so they buy the extra content in march.