Analysts sound off on GTA delay

Greenwald calls slip "disastrous" while Pachter says management "stumbled badly," speculates that PS3 version was to blame.

It's not often that news of a game's delay is as big for the publisher as it is for the gamers anxiously awaiting it. But Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV is a hugely important title for Take-Two Interactive, and yesterday's announcement of its delay into next year has significant repercussions for the company.

A handful of analysts today responded to the news and what it means for Take-Two, and they expressed some substantially different points of view on the matter.

Nollenberger Capital Partners' Todd Greenwald called the news "disastrous."

"For investors who have endured a seemingly endless string of disappointments ('Hot Coffee' scandal, [Securities and Exchange Commission] investigations, District Attorney subpoenas, class-action lawsuits, earnings warnings, management/board turmoil, Manhunt [2] delay, to name a few), the release of GTA IV this holiday was their one last glimmer of hope," Greenwald told investors.

What's more, Greenwald thinks the worst might not be over for the publisher.

"Given the 20 percent drop in Take-Two's stock price in the past 2 weeks, and further 20 percent decline after-hours, we believe Take-Two's already long list of class-action shareholder lawsuits could lengthen, and may also draw the attention of the SEC, which is already investigating the company," Greenwald said. "Regardless, legal expense should remain a constant portion of the company's operating budget for some time to come."

Wedbush Morgan Securities' Michael Pachter was similarly nonplussed with the company.

"Take-Two management stumbled badly for the first time during their tenure," Pachter said in his own note to investors. "While the delay of GTA IV was clearly not the fault of new management, we believe that it should have been better understood several months ago, and should have been communicated to investors much earlier than today. The game was scheduled for release in 10 weeks, and management reiterated its belief that the game would ship on time only three weeks ago at E3."

Pachter also offered his own speculation as to what the reason for the delay was.

"We think it is likely that the Rockstar team had difficulty in building an exceptionally complicated game for the PS3, and failed to recognize how far away from completion the game truly was until recently," Pachter said. "We think it is also likely that Take-Two had a contractual commitment to Sony that it would not favor competitor Microsoft by launching the Xbox 360 version of GTA IV prior to launching the PS3 version, and believe that any delay of the PS3 version necessitated a delay of the Xbox 360 version."

While Pachter noted the delays of Manhunt 2 and GTA IV as evidence that Take-Two's "process for monitoring projects under development appears to be a failure," not every analyst was as harsh on the publisher.

In a note titled, "Christmas Delayed Until Spring," Janco Partners' Mike Hickey called the precipitous drop in Take-Two's stock price "an overreaction" to the news, adding he supports the decision to push the game back.

"The GTA franchise has consistently produced some of the highest rated and most enjoyed games in the industry," Hickey said. "A below average quality next-gen release from the GTA franchise could critically damage the franchise's future. We believe the additional development time will allow Rockstar to release the next-gen GTA experience gamers have been waiting for."

724 Comments

  • lfunccd

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 9:23 pm PT

    Rockstar's creative VP Dan Houser said that 360 is impairing the development of Grand Theft Auto IV in a interview with ign.

  • lucoque

    Posted Oct 29, 2007 5:39 am PT

    oh great here we go with microsofts tactics

    first off
    they no gta fans will get a ps3 for the upcoming gta game
    what do they do?
    they try and make the xbox 360 version better by getting 2 chapters exclusive to the xbox 360

    they also made a deal that it gets released on the same day as the ps3 version

    now what?

    the game was delayed because it can't fit on a dvd9 disk
    and microsoft won't let it out on 2 disks
    so it takes months to compress a game so big
    of course they no the delay will affect ps3 more then the xbox 360

    so of course they delay it because they have a reason to

    so what happens
    they ring up mr. pacher here and try and get the public to blame the ps3 for it because of the cell
    when its acualy the xbox 360's fault

    seems microsofts tactics have worked on a bunch of idiots
    some eg.
    Warghost2k
    commando611
    lewisstarwars Myth999
    ShadeZ and this is only on the current page i am looking at

    to get this clear to everyone this game is ready right now for both versions but microsoft does not want it on 2 disks so it gets delayed

  • Mandingo101

    Posted Oct 25, 2007 3:24 am PT

    we dont know which system was the reason for the delay, if not both. they said at e3 i believe that the 2 versions were no more than a week apart in development progress. he is just guessing as to the reason, that doesnt mean he is right as he is just an analyst ffs, and michael pachter at that.

    i think it is both platforms especially considering rockstar are making 2 other ps3 games right now so you would think they would have some extensive knowledge of the architecture, especially since they were the first devs to get the ps3 dev kits long ago

  • Warghost2k

    Posted Oct 15, 2007 8:17 am PT

    News like this proves the sad state of the video gaming industry. The truth leaked out that Sony had a contract with Take-Two that would not allow GTA4 to be released on ANY console until the PS3 version was released, because they feared having it available on Xbox360 would hurt the PS3's success. While this is true, it is unfair to make every 360 owner wait for yet another 6 months while the PS3 version of the game is completed. Undoubtedly, Sony paid Take-Two a huge chunk of change to make sure they were protected in the event of something like this happening.

    Bottom line is this: Publishers being paid to hold games from market is WRONG. Also, games available on only one or two consoles is WRONG. It's being done because these console giants are greedy and care more about selling you another $500 console than making sure everyone gets to enjoy a good game. The only exception is when a console would not be powerful enough to do a game justice (I doubt the Wii could handle GTA4's graphics). It pisses me off when I see a great game that everyone should be able to enjoy, but it's not available on a console that many people own. Why should they have to suffer or buy another console just to play one game?? /rant off

  • Nicolas00-0g

    Posted Oct 10, 2007 1:22 pm PT

    This is just the begin of he console wars.
    Sony must call more "soldiers" to win his war
    Let's wait to MGS 4, Driver, Syphon Filter (These PS3 exclusive) to see who will win. SONY, YOU WIN THE LAST TWO WARS, AND I HOPE THAT YOU WIN THESE WAR TOO !!!!!!!!

  • dead_god86

    Posted Oct 4, 2007 10:49 pm PT

    hmm, i heard it was the PS3's fault for the delay of UT3 too, they're finding it dificult to get the Unreal Engine 3 running smoothly on it. So, while the PS3 is (imo) the most powerful of the 3 "Next-Gen"(as they like to call the,) consoles, i believe the PS3 is actually rather crappy, the controls are crap, i was trying to play some racing game on it the other day, using R2 as teh accelerator, fine for an xbox, the design of the PS3 control, made my fingure hurt (note: not crying about my fingure hurting) all in all, sony sucks, had to wait 6 months for GTA:SA on PC, now this and UT3 as well, all sony's fault imo...

    ...PS: i'm sure teh delay will be worth it

  • jimmarn

    Posted Oct 4, 2007 6:06 am PT

    i mean i read somewhere that PS3 will get some ++ for the HDD and the Cell's... i just can't remember what it was... anyone fresh up my mind? Was it more weapons or something? i can't remember and it bug's me

  • el_pablo65

    Posted Oct 1, 2007 9:17 am PT

    The fact is that Rock Star begged MS to make this game require a HDD and MS refused. That and the standard dvd limitation are the cause of the delay, 360 fanboys, not any difficulty in programming for the PS3. You cannnot seriously think Rock Star is going to have a problem programming for the PS3.

  • DON_DU

    Posted Sep 28, 2007 5:02 pm PT

    of all the games to be delayed why this one

  • mafiaso1

    Posted Aug 29, 2007 7:14 pm PT

    gents . wats wrong wit u. Patience must be provided 2 everyone of u.i know it ll the game of all games .but we need 2 wait for excellence and perfection. and whoever says that the ps3 sucks is jealus cuz he ddnt get one. he thoght that the xbox is better.

  • horioricorious

    Posted Aug 27, 2007 3:06 am PT

    so its the contractual agreement between sony and take 2 that you're all pissed of about, the one that is not letting the 360 version come out before the ps3 version? you people seem to be in the grey area of what is what. i'd sit here and argue about which is better, but ...

  • dany_gamer_kid

    Posted Aug 25, 2007 9:44 am PT

    sony had gta lcs and vcs,so xbox should have gtaiv. am i wrong???i really want this game on pc too

  • commando611

    Posted Aug 24, 2007 7:54 am PT

    ps3 sucks..big time,they better give us a demo on the previous realise date..to make it up.

  • Rebel4lyfe06

    Posted Aug 21, 2007 1:52 am PT

    I kew this game coming out so soon was too good to be tru. Taegre is right there was no real info out on the game so why did we all think it would actually be released as promised. I just wish i would have known sooner so i would not have gotten my hopes up. Like they said i guess christmas is pushed back till spring....

  • Taegre

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 9:07 pm PT

    well no it wasn't that much of a surprise. they had barely released anything about the game, and it was only 10 weeks away from being launched. They released a trailer and a few screenshots, but nothing about the story or the actual gameplay until gamespots tour of liberty city. but that was only an hour long demo. It seems they weren't anywhere close to being done with it

  • DON_DU

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 2:02 pm PT

    i don't know about yall but the delay was no surprise

  • Milan89

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 5:03 am PT

    THE PS3 IS CURSED!!!

  • xployt268

    Posted Aug 18, 2007 7:04 am PT

    well this sux just have to wait

  • muthsera666

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 12:46 pm PT

    What's the big deal about delays? I would much rather wait to play a great game that took longer to ensure that everything worked than a game that is rushed to retail.

  • Sparky2002

    Posted Aug 16, 2007 10:59 am PT

    GETS ON KNEES O GOD LET THIS BE TRUE SONY BUYING OUT ROCKSTAR
    http://ps3.qj.net/Sony-to-acquire-Rockstar-/pg/49/aid/99554 xbox will never see the GTA light of day

  • joshyoung55

    Posted Aug 16, 2007 9:47 am PT

    Those that are saying that the delay is because of the 360 are fools. If you ask any game designer he will tell you that it is much harder to make games on the ps3 because they are blue ray.

  • Blood_Diamond

    Posted Aug 16, 2007 9:16 am PT

    It's not a slap in the face to xbox fans "Mush Mouth" i think it's because sony will lose ALOT of money because people will start to buy 360's just to get there hands on GTA because with the past versions of the game it is hard to avoid spoilers and rumor mills like "Big foot" (GTA:SA) "Drivable Sub" (GTA:VA) when it comes to the GTA series so if rockstar relase it all together Microsoft, Sony and Rockstar will stand to make ALOT of money.

  • Sparky2002

    Posted Aug 15, 2007 6:59 am PT

    exactly my friend M$ saw the game industry boom but there was never a threat to PC & Never Will Be..........

    PC Is a System based on life Events & effects Learning Doing Reports Infomation Banking Buying goods General life & reality & Is Not Based on The user using Games & can never be replaced by a game system machine...

    Some peoples computers run 60% of there house hold appliances
    Light Alarms TV Recorders Steros... The Hub

  • justbecause0

    Posted Aug 15, 2007 1:52 am PT

    if they released it for xbox360 on time they would have more been saving themselves trouble instead of favoring xbox (imo) .and actually sparky the reason microsoft released a console was because sony claimed that playstation would replace home computers and bill gates wasnt gonna let his humongous income level be threatened.

  • Mush_Mouth

    Posted Aug 14, 2007 2:42 pm PT

    Wow, how crappy that if ps3 owners can't have it, nobody can...it was already a slap in the face to xbox owners that the ps3 has NG sigma, and now this?

  • packernation31

    Posted Aug 13, 2007 11:24 pm PT

    Just get a game out that will be good

  • BruceLee16

    Posted Aug 13, 2007 9:14 am PT

    does this mean GTA4 won't be coming to the Dreamcast anytime soon? =|

  • Sparky2002

    Posted Aug 13, 2007 6:48 am PT

    lol shadez GTA Series owes SONY thier lives
    Without sony GTA 3d game series would not exist
    You should be down on your knees thankin sony this game even exists

    & no im not talking about the 2d top view games only the 3d

    Infact if sony did not do so well XBOX would not exist full stop....
    only cause microsoft Smelt the money bags a mile away did they even both to make a console because of the PS for a big slice of that pie

  • ShadeZ

    Posted Aug 10, 2007 1:24 pm PT

    Stupid PS3! I wish they'd just abandon trying to support that platform as well. If the X360 version is ready, ship it! Don't wait for a working PS3 version. Ahhh... whatever!

  • Arab-man666

    Posted Aug 10, 2007 9:41 am PT

    meh, they should give us a little something extra for the time we've waited. A bonus CD with upgraded versions of PAst GTA games would be swell.

  • soulsearch11

    Posted Aug 9, 2007 7:30 pm PT

    Strike Viper said:

    "They could easily have just released the 360 version of the game and pushed the PS3 release date back."

    God, read the article you douche. The dude just said that "Take-Two had a contractual commitment to Sony that it would not favor competitor Microsoft by launching the Xbox 360 version of GTA IV prior to launching the PS3 version, and believe that any delay of the PS3 version necessitated a delay of the Xbox 360 version."

    But I guess ur just such a smart fanboy that you know better than an analyst huh?..

  • Thegame1456

    Posted Aug 9, 2007 12:22 pm PT

    LOL !!

  • gaa0c85 posted Aug 9, 2007 8:38 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    gaa0c85

    Posted Aug 9, 2007 8:38 am PT (hide)

    360 was the delay

  • LvL75CaveTroll

    Posted Aug 9, 2007 7:16 am PT

    wat stupid analysts, obviously caused by the 360 ...

  • Strike_Viper

    Posted Aug 9, 2007 3:10 am PT

    Those 'analysts' are retards. The delay was MUCH more likely caused by the 360. The reason is that, in its current state, there is no way GTA IV will fit onto a single DVD9 disk. Early next year Microsoft are introducing some new compression technology that will make it possible. I think a few coding difficulties are much less likely to be the cause of the delay, especially considering Rockstar are bound by a contract to not release the PS3 version if the 360 version was not ready. They could easily have just released the 360 version of the game and pushed the PS3 release date back.
    Also, I read an interview in a magazine (admittedly a PS3 mag) where the developer they were talking to said it's not that hard really to code for the Playstation 3, it's just because it's more intricate so the developers get lazy. You can pretty much optimise a game infinitely with the PS3's cell processor.

  • Sparky2002

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 8:54 pm PT

    Sony - Sharp Crisp Pictures Full detail
    Xbox - Blurrs Nice color softens out edges

    The Diffrence is Sony Makes images super shape but can Blare them XBOX Blurrs The Images & Edges a much softer edged apperence but can lose alot of small fine detail

    Really its all choice.. If the game graphics are really well done i prefer a ps3 for the fine sharp image

    if not very well done i would prefer Xbox for it would smooth it out to look better

  • Myth999

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:21 pm PT

    Another reason why I wouldn't bother getting the PS3. Yeah, it's good that now R* have more time to work on the game but seeing some of the games that's on the PS3, it might look like crap.

  • Andrew0824

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 10:54 am PT

    Why is the PS3 so hard for developers to work on? This isn't the 1st time I've heard about this either. You'd think that Sony would know how to make a user friendly (for developers) console by now.

    I wish they could at least release the 360 version on time, but if they have contractual committments with Sony, I guess they can't.

  • bublinec

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 6:53 am PT

    mistakes like this will cost companys a lot of money but the biggest problem is going to be with sony with gta on the ps3 the sales of the ps3 would go up but with the delay of gta sony will have to lower prices and lose profit and make a mark for 2008 as for microsoft with games like halo 3 it is not hard to say that microsoft has beat sony in 2007

  • Alex071093

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 5:40 am PT

    Eh, these things happen to video game publishers, some more than others. But still I can wait for it, even though its not like we have a choice...

  • lewisstarwars

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:55 am PT

    shows how good ps3 is they cant take that xbox is much better

  • ace79

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:36 am PT

    hey pmo98. these are pro's talking! you blok headed ape.

  • pmo98

    Posted Aug 7, 2007 10:02 pm PT

    dddnt u guys read it it said both versions are dfelayed because it took longer than they thought not just the ps3 version both versions blok headed ms fans... "We think it is also likely that Take-Two had a contractual commitment to Sony that it would not favor competitor Microsoft by launching the Xbox 360 version of GTA IV prior to launching the PS3 version, and believe that any delay of the PS3 version necessitated a delay of the Xbox 360 version."

  • gameOwl45

    Posted Aug 7, 2007 8:46 pm PT

    Personally whatever the guys at Rockstar are doing I'm sure they are doing it for all the GTA faithful.

  • NeoJoe

    Posted Aug 7, 2007 2:08 pm PT

    What Pachter had to say in regards to why the game was delayed was something that I had thought of also. If the PS3 version is way behind in development and R* only released the Xbox 360 version this Christmas, then Sony would have been buried. Who would have bought a PS3 this Christmas when you could buy an Xbox 360 with both Halo 3 & GTA IV exclusive?

  • JoseCuervo1979

    Posted Aug 7, 2007 1:26 pm PT

    It does burn Sony. They'dve more than likely got a good chunk of system sales to play the game on for christmas. I planned on buying in Oct. There will probably even be another system price drop now before the game has the chance to lure in system buyers.
    Fine for me, bad for sony.

  • Sparky2002

    Posted Aug 7, 2007 8:25 am PT

    Choice of words so i will sayy I dont favour greedy corps like the "M"ONEY "$"HOT M$ so i will stick with the little guy M$ is worse then a hooker M$ always out to make a quick buck.. its lucky the goverment depises monopolisation & incourages compition..

    IF WE ALL WHERE M$ FANS THE WORLD WOULD LOSE IT SANITY PS I UPLOADED A VIRUS TO YOUR XBOX muhahaharr only jokin

  • Coxxxy83

    Posted Aug 7, 2007 8:15 am PT

    Thankgod i don't own a garbage PS3 huh? However it is coming out at a time when money is easier due to not having 20 good games out at once

advertisement

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!

Related Game

Grand Theft Auto IV Boxshot
Grand Theft Auto IV

Game Stats

  • Rank:
    53 of 77,247
    (up by 1)
    X360 Rank:
    13 of 1,887
    Tracking:
    24,846 Track It»
    Wishlists:
    14,077 Wish It»
  • Users Now Playing:
    9,504
  • Number of Players:

    1 Player, 16 Online Online Modes: Competitive, Cooperative, Team Oriented

  • Top 5 User Tags:
    1. gta
    2. grand theft auto
    3. gta 4
    4. gta iv
    5. grand theft auto iv
  • Mature Rating Description

    Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language. Learn more

Full Game Details »Close
Also on

Recent News

See All News »

Site Blogs