Grand Theft Tardy

Grand Theft Auto IV, or, as I like to call it, the eighth Grand Theft Auto game, will miss its initial October release date, and will now be launched in the second fiscal quarter of 2008 (which is industry speak for February through April.)

Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick explained in simple terms that "certain elements of development proved to be more time-intensive than expected." I guess it takes a lot of time to check every inch of a game to be completely certain that no sexual minigames appeared from thin air, as though conjured by elder porn wizards.

On a serious note for the company, this delay means missing that sweet target known as the holiday season. Their expected revenue for the end of the fiscal year decreased promptly by nearly $25 million. That's a lot of millions.

While I'm not heartbroken by this delay (it's not as though I'll have any lack of games to play this holiday season) I'm sure it will upset some more of the series more avid fans. Hopefully these time-intensive elements will more than make up for the wait.