Grand Theft Auto V release would not save 2012 sales - Analysts

Even Grand Theft Auto V could not bring 2012's middling game industry sales out of the doldrums if released this year, according to a VentureBeat analyst roundup. The next entry in the open-world crime series could generate as much as $700 million for publisher Take-Two, but Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said that would still be less than 10 percent of expected yearly industry sales. Annual figures have recently stayed at around $16 to $18 billion.

"Given the current momentum of the market, I doubt any major releases, even one of GTAV's size, would push the physical markets back into the positives," said Jesse Divnich, an analyst with Electronic Entertainment Research and Design. The game, which was announced in October 2011, will revisit the Southern California-inspired Los Santos of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. No release date has been specified.

The industry is still reliant on large releases such as GTAV, and Take-Two usually sees doubled revenue on the year of a major GTA release, according to the report. "The traditional gaming sector is under an enormous amount of downward pressure at the moment, and it will require a strong catalyst to shift that momentum," Divnich said.