14 DAY TRIAL // Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter has just shared his own insight on Take-Two, the publisher of the extremely popular series Gran Theft Auto, and revealed that the next installment, Grand Theft Auto V, might arrive around the end of 2011 or right at the beginning of 2012.
According to the analyst, GTA V will be released at the end of next year, as Take-Two's contract with Rockstar bosses Sam and Dan Houser, as well as Les Benzies, expires at the beginning of 2012.
Pachter says that a new Gran Theft Auto game will help not only Take-Two but also the Rockstar executives to negotiate a new and better contract for the future.
The analyst goes on to reveal that the game is already well into development, especially since work on the full-pledged GTA IV title ended with the release of The Episodes from Liberty City add-ons.
Development is expected to be completed next year, especially since GTA V will be using the same engine as its predecessor.
"We understand that the team is using the same game engine (the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine, or RAGE), and although we expect the next game to be the biggest and deepest ever, we don’t think it is likely that the team will take more than four years to deliver it."
At the end of his predictions, Pachter weighed in on the success of upcoming Rockstar-developed games L.A. Noire and Max Payne 3, which will follow the path set by Red Dead Redemption this year.
"The problem with delays of games like L.A. Noire and Max Payne 3 is that they distract the key members of the Grand Theft Auto team. While we are optimistic about both games following the success of Red Dead Redemption, neither is likely to sell more than 5 million units, while the next GTA may become the best selling game of all time, selling over 20 million units."
If Pachter's predictions turn out to be true and Gran Theft Auto V will be released, then we will be in for a massive end of the 2011.