Rockstar Debunks Grand Theft Auto V Delay Conspiracy Theories

[Marshall Honorof]

Rockstar Debunks Grand Theft Auto V Delay Conspiracy Theories

The game was pushed back to September to ensure quality, nothing more.

Give the internet an inch, and it'll often take a mile. When Rockstar delayed Grand Theft Auto V [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121807-Rockstar-Games-Delays-Grand-Theft-Auto-V] last week, it sparked a great deal of discussion on forums everywhere. Was the open-world crime game put on the backburner because of social concerns, or marketing reasons, or even to herald the launch of a new console generation? According to the developer, the answer is a resounding "no." The game's delay is to ensure quality, and that's that, says Rockstar.

"We understand many of you guys are disappointed with this news," writes Rockstar on its forums. "Unfortunately sometimes such delays are necessary ... especially in the case of a game experience as massive and complex as GTAV." The staff then goes on to exhort posters to remain civil in their comments, which had apparently been a problem over the last few days.

"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," Rockstar continues. Since the delay announcement on January 31, posters had theorized a variety of reasons for the delay in over 9,000 comments. Some saw it as a response to the Sandy Hook shootings, whereas others believed it wanted some space from BioShock: Infinite, another big release in 2013. The most prevalent rumor, however, was that the game would herald in a new era of consoles from Sony and Microsoft. None of these explanations seems very likely: "Literally the only reason we've delayed the release is because we want the game to be as good as it needs to be," Rockstar asserts.

There you have it, straight from the crime lord horse's mouth: Grand Theft Auto V will be out to cause Mayhem in September, with no hidden agenda beyond delivering Rockstar's best effort. This will give those of us who missed out on Grand Theft Auto IV just about enough time [http://howlongtobeat.com/gamebreakdown.php?gameid=331] to catch up.

Source: Rockstar [http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/48591/grand-theft-auto-v-is-coming-9172013.html]

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[SonOfVoorhees]

Im all for them making it the best they can instead of rushing it out. I would also prefer it more like Vice City than GTA4. GTA4 sucked, so boring. They lost what made GTA great......it was all the fun. I know they say they want to add realism, but who cares, i dont want realism from a game. A certain amount is good, but GTA was never about realism.

 

[sneakypenguin]

surely they are porting it to next gen consoles too, I just don't see them going another 4 years into a consoles lifecycle before they release a gta on them.

 

[Longstreet]

So, the delay wasn't to work on a pc version, which then would come out at roughly the same time?

damn.


[sub][sub][sub] unless i missed something, i'm still bitter. [/sub][/sub][/sub]

 

[Therumancer]

Meh, the bottom line is that if there was truth to any of this it's not likely Rockstar would admit it.

Truthfully the rumors I've heard involve both editing due to the current gun control kick (ie censorship) and them pimping DLC offers to various publishers and manufacturers. Basically the idea being to get someone like Microsoft to pay them scads of money to produce more content/expansions in exchange for a temporary exclusivity deal, wanting to delay the game as much as possible so they could drop hooks/lead in, into the main game to make the additions more seamless when they include it.

Both seem relatively plausible since Rockstar is a good little eunach of a company nowadays that has bent over for censors before (Manhunt, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, etc...) and I see no indication of this changing, and such content deals served them will with their last game. Of course I doubt the latter is likely to happen because Microsoft paid all that money with the understanding that the packs they paid for would NEVER be availible on any other platform, which was advertised originally, and Rockstar wiggled out of that in the long term, making it less worthwhile as an investment, especially with new generations of tech right around the corner.

That said, we'll see what happens, we won't know anything until the game comes out and has been on the market for a while. Ditto for any planned expansions appearing that haven't already been announced or hinted at.

Personally I'm suspecting this game will have it's over the top moments, but will probably be the most sanitary and politically correct game Rockstar has ever produced.

 

[octafish]

Meh, the bottom line is that if there was truth to any of this it's not likely Rockstar would admit it.

Truthfully the rumors I've heard involve both editing due to the current gun control kick (ie censorship) and them pimping DLC offers to various publishers and manufacturers. Basically the idea being to get someone like Microsoft to pay them scads of money to produce more content/expansions in exchange for a temporary exclusivity deal, wanting to delay the game as much as possible so they could drop hooks/lead in, into the main game to make the additions more seamless when they include it.

Both seem relatively plausible since Rockstar is a good little eunach of a company nowadays that has bent over for censors before (Manhunt, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, etc...) and I see no indication of this changing, and such content deals served them will with their last game. Of course I doubt the latter is likely to happen because Microsoft paid all that money with the understanding that the packs they paid for would NEVER be availible on any other platform, which was advertised originally, and Rockstar wiggled out of that in the long term, making it less worthwhile as an investment, especially with new generations of tech right around the corner.

That said, we'll see what happens, we won't know anything until the game comes out and has been on the market for a while. Ditto for any planned expansions appearing that haven't already been announced or hinted at.

Personally I'm suspecting this game will have it's over the top moments, but will probably be the most sanitary and politically correct game Rockstar has ever produced.

Someone is forgetting Table Tennis...

Any of those reason are valid business reasons and I wouldn't blame them for delaying at all, but I remember the condition GTA4 released in. It took them six months to fix that mess

 

[5-0]

Both seem relatively plausible since Rockstar is a good little eunach of a company nowadays that has bent over for censors before (Manhunt, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, etc...)

What a pile of absolute unsubstantiated bullshit. Since when have Rockstar "bent over for censors"? If they didn't let the censors at their games, they wouldn't get released, it's as simple as that. Manhunt would have been slapped with an AO rating, which would have been akin to it being banned. Without cuts, Manhunt 2 would have been refused classification in the UK, meaning it wouldn't have been allowed a release. GTA San Andreas would, once again been given an AO rating if they hadn't removed the hot coffee stuff. As far as I can see, in each of these cases, they're perfectly justified in accepting their games to be cut, unless you care to point me towards any other examples. To call them "a good little eunach of a company" is completely untrue. They experience controversy with nearly every game they release, because they are continually pushing the limits of what is acceptable in games aimed at the adult market. I get that you don't agree with their dlc practices- that's fine, I don't like console exclusivity either, but the company you paint a picture of is completely distorted from the one that exists in reality, and your idea of the company is based on pure speculation with no evidence to back it up whatsoever.

 

[Your Gaffer]

Makes sense to me, Rockstar would hardly be the first company to delay a game to polish it up.

 

[Lost In The Void]

Meh, the bottom line is that if there was truth to any of this it's not likely Rockstar would admit it.

Truthfully the rumors I've heard involve both editing due to the current gun control kick (ie censorship) and them pimping DLC offers to various publishers and manufacturers. Basically the idea being to get someone like Microsoft to pay them scads of money to produce more content/expansions in exchange for a temporary exclusivity deal, wanting to delay the game as much as possible so they could drop hooks/lead in, into the main game to make the additions more seamless when they include it.

Both seem relatively plausible since Rockstar is a good little eunach of a company nowadays that has bent over for censors before (Manhunt, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, etc...) and I see no indication of this changing, and such content deals served them will with their last game. Of course I doubt the latter is likely to happen because Microsoft paid all that money with the understanding that the packs they paid for would NEVER be availible on any other platform, which was advertised originally, and Rockstar wiggled out of that in the long term, making it less worthwhile as an investment, especially with new generations of tech right around the corner.

That said, we'll see what happens, we won't know anything until the game comes out and has been on the market for a while. Ditto for any planned expansions appearing that haven't already been announced or hinted at.

Personally I'm suspecting this game will have it's over the top moments, but will probably be the most sanitary and politically correct game Rockstar has ever produced.

Yeah I sure remember that censorship in The Lost and the Damned or in Max Payne 3, or anything really that wasn't Manhunt 2 and the hot coffee thing of SA that wasn't really anything worth having in the first place. I mean they sure do censor themselves, what with the fucking dick in Lost.

 

[braincore02]

I, for one, am glad they delayed the game. I'm too busy for GTA this spring.

 

[Strazdas]

ensuring quality is always the primary concern in my opinion.
Then again GTA 4 failed at that. sure it was a fun game, but its engine was so bad it felt like a game from 20th century.