We have some bad news for fans of the Grand Theft Auto video gaming franchise. “Grand Theft Auto IV” will be delayed. Take Two, the games manufacturer, announced yesterday that due to some unforseen technical problems associated with the game will cause its release to be moved from the expected October 2007 to as late as March or April 2008.
Explaining the cause for the delay, Take Two chairman Strauss Zelnick told Wall Street, “We felt that delivering a product that doesn’t meet our standards wasn’t in our best interest. We will not choose expediency over the long-term success of the ‘Grand Theft Auto’ franchise.”
Producer Samuel Hadida has obtained the rights to the video game called “Return to Castle Wolfenstein,” according to Variety. Hadida is responsible for the vidgame “Resident Evil: Extinction,” due out September 21, 2007 and is working on the production of “Onimusha.”
While Take Two has had a set back with ‘Theft IV’ and a stock drop of close to 19%, Activision and Midway were greeted with some good news this morning. Both have recorded earnings rises of 23%. This comes as good news since Midway has been in restraints lately due to the corporate intrigue between Sumner Redstone and his daughter Shari.
Activision’s stock grew by about 5% and competitor EA showed a modest gain of 7% over the same period. This latest surge for EA was made possible by the release of its “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” game, which has already sold over 2 million copies.
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