14 DAY TRIAL // The Grand Theft Auto franchise is probably one of the best-known and most popular sandbox game series out there, winning over a huge number of fans with its realistic gameplay and intriguing story. The brainchild of the Rockstar team, the franchise sold extremely well, and, with its latest iteration, Grand Theft Auto IV, gained critical acclaim for its Hollywood movie-like story and the realism with which the fictional Liberty City was portrayed.
The game was launched for consoles in April last year, with a PC version arriving before the holiday season, only to disappoint because of the big number of glitches and problems users encountered. But GTA fans might be in for a very big surprise from Rockstar, as, according to a rumor posted in the latest issue of Game Informer, the next title in the series might arrive sooner rather than later, with a possible release date projected at the end of 2009.
“We're not talking about new DLC or a collection of previously available DLC, we're talking about a full retail game. We expect this title to follow the suit of previous GTAs and use a subtitle such as GTA: San Andreas, etc. Tokyo might be a possible setting for the game, but details are non-existent at this time,” reads the Loose Talk section in the latest issue of Game Informer.
It seems that, if the Rockstar North team can pull it off, a new GTA title might appear, most probably on the consoles, just 18 months after the release of the latest game. Such a precedent does exist, as GTA: Vice City was launched only a year after the GTA III title, using almost the same graphics engine and resources as the older game.
Although such a thing might be possible, considering the massive teams employed at all of the Rockstar studios, the development on the GTA IV downloadable episodes isn't done just yet. As you may know, the first episode, entitled The Lost and Damned, is scheduled to be released in February exclusively for the Xbox 360, and another one, which is yet to be named or dated, will also appear afterwards.
Until we hear from Rockstar, this is still a rumor, so GTA fans mustn't start saving up for this future game just yet.