In what could be a big “could have seen it coming” moment, Take Two and Rockstar are delaying the release of the much anticipated fourth entry of the Grand Theft Auto franchise to next year on April, instead of the intended October 2007 release date. Chairman of Take Two Strauss Zelnick clarified in a statement that “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.”

Zelnick also added “the final say” to delay GTA IV was with him, but that “This wasn’t a decision we took lightly. This wasn’t a decision [Rockstar] took lightly.” Having reviewed a build just a day prior to the announcement, Take-Two felt that there was no way it could meet the game’s October 16th release date.

An understandable oversight, seeing that the GTA series have always been pushing the zenith of the console it was usually on. Still, this further reinforces the fact that all release dates for ALL videogames will never be final, and that delays will always be inevitable. Hit this sentence for the press release.

Technorati : delay, gta, rockstar, sandbox game, take two