Rockstar Games, the prestigious developer and publisher behind the Grand Theft Auto series, is to launch an investigation after the predetermined street date for Grand Theft Auto V was broken, Games Industry International reports. According to the document, major retailers such as Amazon opted to ship copies early in order to make the stringent September 17th release; however, this meant some fans received the game a full two days in advance, giving the publisher cause for concern.
Here’s the official statement from the studio regarding the issue.
“We are in the process of investigating early ‘sales’ to determine how and why that is occurring.”
This issue materialised over the weekend whenever buoyant fans posted pictures and other media to social networking sites such as Twitter and Instagram. Naturally, given the zero tolerance policy that Rockstar maintains when it comes to spoilers and retaining their in-game secrets, this forced the developer into addressing these premature issues. In fact, as noted by StickSkills, the studio is clamping down on leaked footage from Grand Theft Auto V:
“Pre-Release Footage: No pre-release leaked footage of any kind: Any posting of in-game footage from leaked copies of the game prior to its official release date will be taken down, regardless of how the game was obtained. This includes ‘early unboxing’ videos.”
As a result, it seems any information published about the game that defies Rockstar’s agenda will be removed. Nevertheless, the fifth numerical entry in the landmark franchise is finally set to debut tomorrow. With a purported budget of $265 million, Grand Theft Auto V is one of the most expensive games ever created.
We understand that the game is releasing on Xbox 360 and PS3 on September 17th – though a next-gen version has been rumoured – with the online component launching two weeks later on October 1st. Let us know what you make of Rockstar’s no-nonsense approach in the comments and be sure to check back next week when we’ll have our own review of Grand Theft Auto V to share with you.