Take-Two Interactive chairman Strauss Zelnick has confirmed that there is to be no second delay for the highly anticipated
Grand Theft Auto IV, after Internet sources misinterpreted recent comments made by him at a business meeting.
Speaking at the 2007 BMO Capital Markets Interactive Entertainment Summit, Zelnick was asked to give a specific new release date for
Grand Theft Auto IV. In a high profile move the game was previously delayed from its autumn 2007 release date of October 16th, to the company’s second fiscal quarter in early 2008.
Zelnick refused to give a new date but instead ruminated on the potential benefits of launching in 2008, saying: “The hardware penetration is going to grow over Christmas, and this is gonna be a must-have title, it's probably OK you're not selling it during the Christmas season.”
He ended his answer by saying, “We'll give a firm release date when we know we can stick to it.” Perhaps because of the phrase’s similarity to the “It’ll be out when it’s done,” many online sources interpreted this as signaling an additional delay.
"I wasn't intending to be newsworthy,”
admitted Zelnick to consumer website GameSpot. “When asked about the release date, I confirmed the previous release date we'd given, which is our second fiscal quarter. That's to say sometime between the beginning of February and the end of April."
