Take Two's conference call may have gone without an announcement of Grand Theft Auto 5's release date, but noted industry analyst Michael Pachter believes it is "inconceivable" that the publisher will be able to meet its targets without the release of the game this financial year.
The Wedbush Securities analyst believes that a release date for Grand Theft Auto 5 will be made sometime before November should the company fail to announce its release date at Gamescom before then. He added his bafflement "as to why [Take Two] is unwilling to share any information with investors about the game's development progress."
"There was no such announcement at E3, making a pre-holiday release less likely (but still possible). An announcement at gamescom in August remains a possibility," said Pachter.
In the conference call which took place earlier this week, the company simply stated that its developers at Rockstar were "making substantial progress" on the development of GTA 5, but failed to elaborate on the matter.
Pachter says that it may not be possible for Take-Two to meet its goals in spite of whatever sales they might make from Borderlands 2 or Bioshock Infinite, which are both slated for release within this financial year, which ends on March 31, 2013.
"If such an announcement were to occur [at Gamescom], we continue to believe that Tuesday, October 23 or Tuesday, October 30 are realistic dates for GTA's release," he said.
"Many of the game's predecessors had late-October release dates, while GTA 4 was unexpectedly delayed out of an October release due to technical difficulties with the PS3 version. The recent delay of BioShock Infinite's release date from October 2012 to February 2013 strengthens our belief in a fall release for GTA, as Take-Two would likely want to avoid releasing two such important games in close proximity, potentially impairing the spending ability of some gamers."
