There's A Reason Why GTA Isn't An Annual Release

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(Mirror Daily, United States) – For gamers already anticipating the next installment, there’s a reason why GTA isn’t an annual release, and Rockstar Games along with parent-company Take-Two Interactive explain why. This comes forth after questions of why Grand Theft Auto VI is not out yet, or even announced for that matter.

According to CEO, Strauss Zelnick, they prefer not to release their non-sports titles on an annual schedule. This way, they will effectively “create more anticipation and demand” for when the games actually do release. And there is a clear advantage to that particular strategy. Going for quality over quantity is certainly an aspect that most should understand, even when it’s in regard to business.

As stated by Zelnick, they want their games to be “consumer events”, and let the buildup gather for a while before their launch. Furthermore, the extra time would offer developers a better opportunity to properly polish the game into perfection. While that’s not entirely possible, at least minimizing the glitches and flaws is the desired effect.

Franchises such as ‘Call of Duty’ or ‘Assassin’s Creed’ were offered as options by comparison, as they are generally annual launches. Ubisoft’s ‘Assassin’s Creed’ does feature thrilling stories and exceptional ways of exploring various worlds in different times. However, the company has also gained an unfortunate reputation for their buggy releases.

For example, ‘Assassin’s Creed Unity’ took around five total major updates before the game was deemed as stable enough to play. It’s a point of frustration for players to buy it, install it, and experience it with far too many errors to make it enjoyable. It ruins the gaming experience and may even turn some away from the franchise.

In reaction, ‘Assassin’s Creed Syndicate’, the last installment, has recently released and saw to one of the worst first week of sales in the franchise’s history. While this does not necessarily reflect on the quality of the game, which has been praised in terms of gameplay and storyline, it does say a lot about its fans. They will play it, but not until they know Ubisoft has properly fixed all issues.

That is one of the disadvantages of launching one game of the franchise per year.

Rockstar, however, do not mean to make that mistake. Instead, they opt for taking their time in order to create high quality products. This is especially important for “permanent titles”, such as ‘Grand Theft Auto’. Waiting several years will build up anticipation and offer time for bug-free games. As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

However, there is also the matter of finding that perfect balance.

‘Red Dead Redemption’, which is also considered a “permanent title” in Rockstar’s list, has been nearly crossed off the map where it regards a PC port. While it launched in 2010 for consoles, the PC was forgotten. The anticipation for porting is gone, and it’s now nearly forgotten. Five years is too much for PC gamers to wait.

Now, since Rockstar seems focused on ‘GTA Online’, it’s unlikely that the release date for GTA VI will be announced any time soon.

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Melissa Gansler

Melissa calls herself Poet, essayist, and naturalist. Graduated from the University of Michigan, Melissa holds a degree in Literature. Besides English, she can also speak Chinese, German, French.