Responding to today's Grand Theft Auto V delay, Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz has suggested that Rockstar may be planning to eventually release the game on the next generation of consoles in some form. Creutz reasons that the game's delay to September - allied with the expected launch of at least one next gen console later this year - effectively pushes GTA V and any subsequently released DLC into the next hardware cycle.He said today in a research note: "In and of itself, the delay of the game from FQ1 to FQ2 would not normally mean any significant change to expected FY14 financial results.
"However there is an issue in that we expect the next generation of Xbox and/or PlayStation consoles to launch in the December quarter. We think the closer proximity of GTA V to the next cycle could, at the margin, impact lifetime sales of the title, though we believe that a title of GTA's stature will still be a major seller regardless.
"We think there also could be some impact on the legs of likely GTA V downloadable content as the next-gen installed base increases through 2014. However, we suspect Take-Two may have plans to eventually publish GTA V on the next set of consoles in some form to offset this."