A press release from Take-Two Interactive just crossed the wires, revealing that Rockstar Games' much anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV will no longer ship in October as previously planned. It's now expected to ship sometime next spring. We'd heard rumblings of development problems on the game--more specifically, that Microsoft had sent a SWAT team of developers to assist Rockstar in getting the game shipped on time, much as it did last year for Gears of War--and recent previews from the enthusiast press pointed out significant problems with the game's framerate.

Nevertheless, Rockstar has delivered its Grand Theft Auto games more or less like clockwork, making today's announcement something of a shock. But given executive producer Sam Houser's statement in the release that "The top engineers from Sony and Microsoft are working closely with the team in Edinburgh right now, helping us to fully leverage the power of both platforms," it would appear that the rumors are true. Hopefully Rockstar will use the extra time to include the criminally neglected Staten Island, better known to Wu-Tang Clan fans as Shaolin.

The bad news doesn't stop there, however. Take-Two also doesn't expect to ship Manhunt 2--which is at present effectively banned thanks to its Adults Only rating--during its current fiscal year. It will be interesting to see which publishers move their games out of the November crunch and into October now that the neutron bomb that is Grand Theft Auto IV will no longer be dropped in 2007. Looking at the winners and losers in all of this, the biggest winners are rival third-party publishers (less competition) and Nintendo (more reason for fence-sitters to buy a Wii and hold off on the more expensive 360 and PS3, while the biggest losers are Take-Two (much, much, much less revenue) and Microsoft (the one-two punch is down to just one.) As for Sony, this would appear to be a push: while an arrow has been temporarily removed from Microsoft's quiver during the crucial holiday season, the PS3 would nevertheless have benefited from longtime GTA fans buying PS3s to play the game.

For excerpts of the release, read on.

Take-Two is reducing its fiscal 2007 guidance primarily to reflect the movement of the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV for the PLAYSTATION(R)3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360(TM) video game and entertainment system from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 to fiscal 2008, due to additional development time required to complete the title. The title is now planned for release in the Company's second quarter of fiscal 2008. Additionally, Take-Two is updating third quarter and fiscal year 2007 guidance to reflect the movement of Manhunt 2 for the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system, PSP(R) (PlayStation(R)Portable) system and the Wii(TM) out of the third quarter and the fiscal year.

Ben Feder, Chief Executive Officer of Take-Two, commented, "Obviously, we are very disappointed to reduce guidance after having previously reaffirmed it. Other than a matter of timing, the movement of Grand Theft Auto IV does not compromise Take-Two in any way. We are in sound financial condition and have a great product line up. Grand Theft Auto IV is going to be the defining next generation video game action adventure."

Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two, stated, "With Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar is setting a new standard for next generation video games. Certain elements of development proved to be more time-intensive than expected, especially given the commitment for a simultaneous release on two very different platforms. We all recognize that perfecting the game is vital and I can assure everyone it will be worth the wait. We owe it to the game's millions of fans, to our dedicated development team, and to our shareholders to make sure that Grand Theft Auto IV is a groundbreaking gaming experience that takes maximum advantage of next generation technology."

Sam Houser, Founder and Executive Producer of Rockstar Games, added, "The new consoles are allowing us to create the Grand Theft Auto game we always dreamed about. Every aspect of the game and its design has been completely transformed. The game is huge and is pushing the hardware platforms to their absolute limits. The top engineers from Sony and Microsoft are working closely with the team in Edinburgh right now, helping us to fully leverage the power of both platforms. As always, our goal is to surpass even the wildest expectations of the game's fans, and to create the ultimate high definition video game experience."