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Grand Theft Auto 5 promotional materials, in-game locations leak out
Retailers running preorders for Grand Theft Auto 5 (which is coming out in spring 2013) were supposed to wait until November 5 to give away any promotional items. Pictures of what appears to be a little keychain image viewer have leaked, both revealing that as a pre-order bonus for the game and showing off some locations to be included in Rockstar's latest paean to the West Coast.Looking through the viewfinder on the tiny accessory shows off not only the Zancudo River, but also the Vinewood Hills (a play on Hollywood), the Del Perro Pier (likely Santa Monica's landmark playground), the Vespucci Canals (with a view of downtown), and Grapeseed (a winery area that's likely a tip to California's Napa Valley).Fans have also spotted a poster promoting the game (which you can see after the break below) featuring a woman wearing a Love Fist t-shirt, and a few of the keychain viewers reference an air travel company called "FlyUS", so it appears that GTA's usual parodic shenanigans are in order. We'll likely hear even more about this one in the next month or so, as Rockstar's promotional machine for the game finally starts kicking into gear.
Take-Two revenue up 155% during Q2, outlook removes $600 million following GTA 5 delay
Take-Two had a great second quarter (ending September 30), with revenues of $273.1 million, a 155 percent increase from the $107 million in the previous Q2. At the end of the day, however, the company did have a net loss of $12.5 million, which is still significantly better than the $123.3 loss from the same period last year.The big gun during the quarter was Borderlands 2, which shipped over 5 million units, along with catalog sales of Grand Theft Auto 4 and Red Dead Redemption. Revenue from digital distribution was up 108 percent year-over-year, with "strong digital sales" (i.e. non-retail) mentioned for new releases Borderlands 2 and XCOM: Enemy Unknown.With Grand Theft Auto 5 officially given a spring 2013 release window, it should be noted that Take-Two reduced its "financial outlook" for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013, removing $600 million in forecasted sales. That extra $600 million raised our eyebrows when it appeared in the company's projections at the beginning of the fiscal year, as the math would only really work out if Take-Two was planning GTA 5 before April 1, 2013. That is, obviously, no longer the case and the company has reduced its outlook to "reflect its revised assumed release schedule."
Grand Theft Auto 5 officially receives 'Spring 2013' release window
Take-Two Interactive just announced Grand Theft Auto 5 has a release window of "Spring 2013," with pre-orders for the sandbox crime drama beginning November 5 for PS3 and Xbox 360. There is no mention of a PC version in the company's press release.The official window word comes hours after UK retailer GAME tweeted out promotional material with the date stamped on it. Take-Two Interactive was supposed to have its second quarter investor call today, but canceled due to the aftermath of hurricane Sandy.
Grand Theft Auto 5 receives 'Spring 2013' release window in official promo material
Grand Theft Auto 5 is joyriding towards a "spring 2013" release, according to posters leaked by UK retailer GAME. While no official announcement has been made, IGN reports GAME Brighton tweeted this morning "Pre-order now!!!!!!! #GTA5" along with the below image.
Zelnick: Take-Two didn't meet fiscal 2012 expectations because of delays
Take-Two Interactive didn't meet its revenue and profit goals for fiscal year 2012 because it delayed some games, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick admitted during a stockholder meeting today."This was primarily due to our decision to postpone the release of several titles in order to allow for additional development time," Zelnick said, without naming any specific games. "Although our commitment to quality may occasionally affect near-term results, we believe it's the right approach for maximizing revenue and profits over the long-term."Zelnick later mentioned BioShock Infinite, which was delayed to February 26, and Grand Theft Auto 5, which never had an official release date but was widely expected to launch some time in 2012. After all, Take-Two has a probable $600 million deficit in its 2013 outlook, expecting to earn $1.7 billion - $1.8 billion by March."Grand Theft Auto 5 is in full development and making substantial progress," Zelnick added.%Gallery-163291%
The planes, trucks, and helicopters of Grand Theft Auto 5
For the third time this week, Rockstar Games lifted the lid on a small handful of Grand Theft Auto 5 screenshots. Like previous releases, these screens depict just some of the things you'll be doing in Rockstar's next big GTA entry. For instance, jumping onto a moving truck while police trail behind. Or flying a propellor plane. Naturally!%Gallery-163291%
Grand Theft Auto 5 screens drop in
So, the Grand Theft Auto 5 news we awaited after seeing new screens earlier this week has turned out to be ... more new screens. Which is, of course, fine. Especially when those new screens reveal activities like skydiving, tennis, and dirt bike racing.At least, we think that's what's going on in these "Leisure" screens. It's GTA, so it could very well be that all these screens actually depict horrific crimes being perpetrated in these venues, and using these vehicles.%Gallery-163116%
New Grand Theft Auto 5 screens: Fly a jet, ride a bike, zip around in a Cheetah
In the wake of last week's huge European game expo, Rockstar Games released several new images for Grand Theft Auto 5 this morning, effectively hijacking our interest. The images feature three vehicles from the upcoming open-world adventure: a road bicycle, a return of GTA classic sports car "Cheeta," and a damn fighter jet (seen above). Also of note, the Cheeta's license plate has a "San Andreas" wrapper – not a huge surprise given what we know about GTA5 5's setting, but neat nonetheless.Not enough to sate your thirst for more GTA 5 news? Rockstar says there'll be more revealed "this week," so there!%Gallery-162873%
Grand Theft Auto 5 marketing kicks off with viral 'Epsilon Program' site
A Twitter account for something called the "Epsilon Program" has materialized in the past few days, linking off to a freaky (and annoying) website for a pseudo-religion called "KIFFLOM", registered by Take Two Software.The site features a thinly-veiled parody of the real-life Scientology organization and includes such hilarious "facts" as: "If you have a birth mark, you may be descended from Kraff, the famous Emperor of the 4th Paradigm." Considering that the next iteration of GTA is set in a faux Los Angeles and that the Epsilon Program was featured in a gags found within GTA: San Andreas, odds are good that we're looking at an early viral campaign for Grand Theft Auto 5. Good timing, since only yesterday investors were asking why the hype train for GTA 5 had not yet left the station.What does it tell us about the game? Nothing at all. But investors were wondering where the marketing was, and Take Two appears to have answered right away.
Take-Two investor call theme: Where's Grand Theft Auto 5?
The first half of Take-Two's question and answer session, during today's first quarter investor call, revolved around the theme of Grand Theft Auto 5 and its current status. Whether directly or indirectly, three questions in a row tried to eke out any details about the game, which appears to be part of the publisher's high revenue projections but still has an official "TBA" release date."Strauss, we've heard nothing, next to nothing, on GTA 5 development over the last couple months," said Mike Hickey of National Alliance Securities. "We've seen a couple screenshots. The game is believed by the street to be implied by your guidance for this fiscal year, but what believability do we have that this game is actually going to come out this year?"CEO Strauss Zelnick responded, "We haven't talked about a release date. So obviously we can't talk about the credibility of a release date that we haven't announced."Pushed further on whether the publisher is receiving consistent updates, the CEO deflected."We wouldn't talk publicly about the way we communicate with our teams internally," replied Zelnick. "We are blessed to be in business with the Rockstar folks and everyone knows that I feel that way. We have the best creative teams in the business across our company."Though the company did announce today that "consumer anticipation is phenomenal" for Borderlands 2, it would still need to hit home runs with NBA 2K13, XCOM: Enemy Unknown and BioShock: Infinite to hit its forecast.
Steal a glance at two Grand Theft Auto 5 screens
"Why don't you give us more news?" a Grand Theft Auto fan asked Rockstar about GTA5. In response, Rockstar's "Asked & Answered" column provided the two new screenshots of the upcoming game. You mean to tell us that approach works? This is going to change how we do our jobs.Rockstar explained the relative quiet since the trailer: "We don't do this because we 'don't care about our fans' 'don't respect our fans' 'hate GTA fans etc' – precisely the opposite," a company rep stated in the column. "We do it because we want to make sure we only release 100% correct information, and because we want to keep plenty back for the actual game release so there are still lots of surprises when you play it."When Rockstar is ready to show more, there'll probably be a trailer every single day until launch, judging by previous games.%Gallery-160256%
Analyst: GTA V will launch in Q1 2013, sell 14 million copies
Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia is predicting big numbers for Grand Theft Auto V something fierce. Bhatia projects Grand Theft Auto V will debut during the first three months of 2013 and will pull in $700 million in revenue for Take-Two Interactive with 14 million copies sold over its launch window – though Bhatia didn't say just how long he considers this launch window to be.This $700 million figure is close to the $775 million earned by Modern Warfare 3 in its first five days of launch back in November, which is an entertainment record that has yet to be bested. Rockstar's previous effort, Grand Theft Auto IV, has shipped over 22 million copies worldwide.
Wedbush thinks Grand Theft Auto 5 will launch in October
With this morning's announcement that BioShock Infinite will now launch in February 2013, publisher Take-Two Interactive altered more than a game's launch date. Take-Two is a publicly traded company, and one fewer gigantic product launch during the holiday season – arguably Take-Two's only holiday product launch, unless you count fall launches of Borderlands 2 and XCOM: Enemy Unknown as "holiday" – means that shareholders will want to know what's up. That worry is reflected in Take-Two's stock price, which took a five percent hit since the market opened this morning.But when Infinite got pushed out of the holiday season, it opened the slot up for another high-profile Take-Two-published title: Grand Theft Auto 5. "In our view, the delay opens the window for Grand Theft Auto V to be released in October 2012," Michael Pachter of Webush Securities wrote in an email this morning, echoing a release window leak from earlier this year.In his eyes, Infinite wasn't just delayed to make it "something even more extraordinary," as Ken Levine put it, but because the folks at Rockstar, "notified Take-Two that GTA V would be ready for October." He believes this resulted in Take-Two offering Irrational Games an extra few months to prepare BioShock Infinite. His logic? "The studio [Rockstar Games] has scheduled every prior GTA release during that month (with GTA IV delayed to April 2008, due to bugs in the PS3 version)."Furthermore, Pachter and co. speculate we could hear more about GTA 5's launch date "as early as May 22" during a scheduled quarterly investor call, or perhaps in a few more weeks at E3 2012. We've yet to hear back from Irrational, Rockstar, or Take-Two on the subject.
Rockstar North employee CV gives Grand Theft Auto V an October launch window [update: CV pulled]
Like several major games in the franchise, Grand Theft Auto V is being developed by Rockstar's Edinburgh, Scotland-based Rockstar North studio. Character animator Alex O'Dwyer is an employee at Rockstar North, according to both his LinkedIn page and his CV, and he seems to think that Grand Theft Auto V will launch this October.As seen in the image above, O'Dwyer's CV puts GTA V's launch window firmly in the holiday season – not exactly a bizarre concept considering Rockstar's history of launching GTA titles during the holidays (with the exception of Grand Theft Auto IV, that is). It would also put sufficient time between Rockstar's May launch of Max Payne 3, but would totally buck the trend of Rockstar releasing more than one title in any given year. It's worth noting that Rockstar's parent company, Take-Two Interactive, may not be keen on launching GTA V in the same month as BioShock Infinite.Regardless, we've reached out to Rockstar and O'Dwyer for comment, but, well ... it's Easter. Hopefully we'll hear something soon. For now, we're putting this squarely in the "rumor" column.Update: Mr. O'Dwyer's CV was pulled down. We still haven't heard from Rockstar, nor have we heard from Mr. O'Dwyer regarding the date.
Max Payne 3 'crews' carry over into Grand Theft Auto V multiplayer
The "crews" Max Payne 3 players form in mulitplayer mode will transfer directly to Grand Theft Auto V multi, Rockstar co-founder and fancy mansion owner Dan Houser told IGN. Grand Theft Auto V will share Max Payne 3's crews via Rockstar's Social Club."Multiplayer is an ever-more important part of all our games moving forward," Houser said. "And by creating crews through Social Club, the crews that you create in Max Payne 3 will be ready and available for you to play in Grand Theft Auto V from day one."After news of this crossover, we can imagine other Social Club integration possibilities -- Red Dead Redemption would have majestic horses galloping through the glittery streets of Los Santos, dodging bullets and rampaging cars alike. Horses; horses everywhere.
Rumor: Ned Luke is GTA V's leading man
That man above is actor Ned Luke, whose Internet Movie Database page now lists him as playing a character named Alberto De Silva, whom fans believe is the gravelly-voiced lead in the trailer for Grand Theft Auto 5. The connection was also mentioned in a tweet by an actor named Jimmy Taenaka, who says his friend Luke is "the lead voice and profile" in the new Rockstar game. You can also watch Luke's demo reel on IMDb, and while we're not experts in bioacoustics, he certainly looks and sounds like our guy. Rockstar hasn't yet confirmed the voice or portrayal, and while a Twitter account attributed to Luke appeared for a short time (probably a hoax), it's since been deleted completely. It's not clear why all the secrecy, however; if Luke is our guy, he seems like a fine choice for a Dad looking to make good on a life of crime.
Yes, Grand Theft Auto V is set in Los Santos and will have multiplayer
You've likely gleaned as much from yesterday's big Grand Theft Auto V debut trailer, but this morning's official announcement of the game from Rockstar confirms a "Los Santos" (Los Angeles-ish) setting, as well as the return of online multiplayer. "Grand Theft Auto V focuses on the pursuit of the almighty dollar in a re-imagined, present-day Southern California," the release reads, specifically pointing to "Los Santos and surrounding hills, countryside, and beaches" as the locales. Predictably, the announcement calls GTAV "the largest and most ambitious game Rockstar has yet created," and company co-head Sam Houser characterizes the project as "another radical reinvention of the Grand Theft Auto universe." From that debut teaser, we're ... awaiting further evidence of that "radical reinvention" Houser promises. But hey, at least it looks like planes are back in the mix! Despite making the game even more official, Rockstar has yet to announce a release window or platforms for the Rockstar North-led project.
Grand Theft Auto V speculation points to multiple playable characters
The Grand Theft Auto V trailer dropped this morning (you've seen it already, if you weren't stuck somewhere hiding from the mob), setting the Speculation Train a'rollin' around the Internets. PC Gamer suggests that the trailer may indicate multiple playable characters in the game: We saw the older gentleman, presumably doing the voiceover, and a younger guy with a shaved head in the middle of a car chase. Finally, an African American character can be seen briefly running from police choppers. All three end up in the middle of a heist seen in the video, so the story may, at the very least, revolve around a heist that connects these three characters and their stories. And could multiple playable characters imply some co-op gameplay? Roll on, Speculation Train, roll on!
Grand Theft Auto V trailer is here!
So there you have it, the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto V. Can you believe it actually loaded? We noticed a lot of disparate environments, but all centered around Vinewood, a stand-in for Los Angeles. We're definitely getting back into some of the GTA: San Andreas stomping grounds. Our hero is a dad who says he's trying to be a good guy, but, well, it's a Grand Theft Auto game, so you can guess how well that works out. There are also a lot of images of financial ruin, so we're guessing the current economic crisis is going to play a big role. What'd you notice?
Report: GTA V to be set in Los Angeles, will feature multiple playable characters
Citing anonymous sources "familiar with the game," Kotaku reports that Grand Theft Auto V will take place in a Rockstarified version of Los Angeles, one of the cities mocked up in an earlier installment in the franchise, San Andreas. We suppose the locale makes sense -- wouldn't adapting it be as easy as taking all their assets from L.A. Noire, then applying 75 years of wear, tear and technological progress to the structures therein? The source also claims that more than one character will be playable during Five's campaign, which similarly makes sense, considering the extra protagonists which appeared in Grand Theft Auto IV's expansions. We've contacted Rockstar, and are encasing ourselves in suspended animation for the next week or so, shortening the amount of time between us and the game's debut trailer on November 2.
