Grand Theft Auto 5 still ‘TBA’, but making ‘substantial progress’

Following Take-Two's Q1 2013 financial release yesterday, Rockstar Games' highly anticipated title, Grand Theft Auto 5, is in the same position it was prior to the meeting: "TBA".

As expected, Take-Two did not reveal any additional information about the release of Grand Theft Auto 5. We did learn, however, that the game is "in full development and showing substantial progress".

The words echo what we heard from the company back in February's conference call when they announced it was "making great progress". Outside of that, the release date and platforms for GTA 5 are still "to be announced".

When specifically asked as to whether GTA 5 will release this year, company CEO Strauss Zelnick replied: "We haven't talked about a release date, so we can't talk about the credibility of a release date we haven't announced."

Unfortunately, the lack of attention or any formidable announcement regarding GTA 5 likely means we are looking at a 2013 release date, which is actually what their last financial report seemed to indicate. Despite the tremendous hype surrounding the game, I just don't see any way Rockstar or Take-Two could find time between now and holiday season 2012 to market the game properly – though we all know GTA doesn't need any marketing.

Developer Rockstar Games has been especially vague with information, but recently addressed the lack of GTA 5 information in a fan Q&A.

"We want to make sure we only release 100% correct information, and because we want to keep plenty back for the actual game release so there are still lots of surprises when you play it," Rockstar defended earlier this month. "The only things we care about are that you enjoy the experience of actually playing the game and that we release accurate information."

In that same post, they did manage to tease us with two more screenshots.

Sadly, that is all we have to hold us over for now. On a side note, the "below expectation" sales for Take-Two in Q1 could pressure the company into announcing something regarding GTA 5 sometime soon.

For more gaming news, in-depth coverage, and fun gaming debates follow @Matt_GZ on Twitter.