[friedkarma]

Originally Posted by Don_Rico

I doubt it's delayed due to development, rather they delayed it because of the killer lineup this autumn. They'll guaranteed sell a lot more copies if they delay it.

I disagree wholeheartedly that a delay of 6 to 8 months is tied to revenue recognition. That goes against any business sense whatsoever. When you have a cash cow like GTA is guaranteed to be, you ship it ASAP and use the proceeds to develop more titles. Think of the millions of dollars in interest alone that they are losing out on by a delay of this magnitude. A dollar in reveune now is worth more than a dollar in the future. Economics 101.

Secondly, when you have what is arguably 1 of the 2 biggest titles of the autumn/winter lineup, you don't back down. You know you are going to sell your game regardless, so you make sure your product is out there to throttle the competition and take sales from lesser games (especially just before the holiday season). Marketing 101.

Finally, they are guaranteed to sell more copies if the game is released sooner. The longer GTA in available in the market, the more copies they sell, plain and simple. From a business standpoint, there is no reason whatsoever for this delay. Without a doubt, there is a technical/development/manufacturing issue in play here. No company would ever delay a game by 2 or 3 quarters because they'd rather have the cash later. If someone told you that they would give you a dollar now, or they would give you one in April, wouldn't you choose to take it now?