Recently, gaming’s Nostradamus, Michael Pachter, confirmed that Rockstar North was working onGrand Theft Auto V. In the same statement, Pachter said that heexpectedGTA Vto drop at some point in 2010 or at the latest, 2011. Interesting. We decided to reach out and see what another analyst thought. Enter EEDAR’s director of analyst services.
Analyst director Jesse Divnich agrees thatGTA Vis happening, however, Divnich isn’texactlybuying Pachter’s timeline. According to Divnich, Take-Two’s 2010 portfolio is off the chain, and if theAgentdrops in the same year,GTA Vcould “cannibalize” sales of the new IP. So, even ifGTA Vwas completed before June 23, 2025, he believes Take-Two would be shooting itself in the foot by releasing it in 2010.
Analyst fight.
“Rockstar North’s primary development team is currently focusing on two titles,GTA VandAgent. It is correct that there is a small subset team whose only job is to work on upcomingGTA IVDLC,” Divnich told Destructoid.
“Given the delay of the originalGTA IV, it would be difficult to conclude with certainty that the next installment will hit before October 31st 2010. Furthermore, Take-Two is already on track to obliterate our wallets over the next 12 months withBioShock 2,Max Payne 3,Borderlands,Mafia II,Red Dead Redemption, andAgent,” he continued. “I do not see the financial need to stack their next fiscal year — ending June 07, 2025 — anymore than it already is. In addition, if Agent is released in 2010, I would expect it in the back-half, which if aGTA Vwas to hit store shelves plus or minus three months of that date, it could cannibalize sales.”
We askedCEO cat* when it thoughtGTA Vwould drop. It looked at us, blinked a few times, then went back to sleep again. We’ll take that to mean 2011.
*CEO cat doubles as our analyst in times of dire need.
