Grand Theft Auto V Announcement Coming at E3, Report Says

Grand Theft Auto V, the latest installment in Rockstar's hugely popular franchise, is set to be officially announced at this summer's E3 conference, at least according to Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia.

While Rockstar's latest games, Red Dead Redemption and the upcoming L.A. Noire are all fine and dandy, gamers are still awaiting the announcement of the next installment in its popular Grand Theft Auto series.

Arvind Bhatia, an analyst for Sterne Agee, is confident that an official announcement for Grand Theft Auto V will appear soon, probably at this Years Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), set to be held this summer.

"We remain comfortable that the next GTA title will likely launch on the cusp of FY12/FY13 and as such benefit both fiscal years. We think there is a reasonable probability of a GTA announcement around E3 this year," he said.

Things have been rather quiet on the Grand Theft Auto front for Rockstar, with the company focusing on releasing new titles like Red Dead Redemption or the upcoming L.A. Noire.

The last formal release was Chinatown Wards on the iPad, while the last full pledged title was the Ballad of Gay Tony downloadable expansion for Grand Theft Auto IV.

In regards to the actual publisher of the Grand Theft Auto games, Take-Two, Bhatia is also extremely confident that investors will fetch nice returns if they put their money into the future of the company.

"TTWO remains our favorite video game stock over the next 12 months," said Bhatia. He bases his claims on the strong portfolio of the company, "including titles like GTA, Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne, Midnight Club, NBA 2K, Mafia, Bioshock, Civilization, Manhunt, Bully, etc. and new/upcoming games including L.A. Noire and Agent."

Rockstar's big upcoming release is L.A. Noire, which is developed by Team Bondi, and arrives for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on May 17, in North America, and May 20, in Europe.