GTA IV pushed into 2008

Take-Two has announced that GTA IV will not make its October 2007 release date. The game will now arrive in the second quarter of the company’s 2008 fiscal year (Feb-April 08). The delay has been put down to unexpected time required in certain areas of development and the desire to deliver the game that fans will be happy with.

“With Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar is setting a new standard for next generation video games. Certain elements of development proved to be more time-intensive than expected, especially given the commitment for a simultaneous release on two very different platforms,” stated Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two. “We all recognize that perfecting the game is vital and I can assure everyone it will be worth the wait. We owe it to the game’s millions of fans, to our dedicated development team, and to our shareholders to make sure that Grand Theft Auto IV is a groundbreaking gaming experience that takes maximum advantage of next generation technology.”

“The new consoles are allowing us to create the Grand Theft Auto game we always dreamed about. Every aspect of the game and its design has been completely transformed. The game is huge and is pushing the hardware platforms to their absolute limits,” added Sam Houser, Founder and Executive Producer of Rockstar Games. “The top engineers from Sony and Microsoft are working closely with the team in Edinburgh right now, helping us to fully leverage the power of both platforms. As always, our goal is to surpass even the wildest expectations of the game’s fans, and to create the ultimate high definition video game experience.”

Expect more updates on GTA IV over the remainder of the year and leading up to its 2008 release date.