GTA V PC Delay Explained by Rockstar Games, Reaction From Gamers Is Mixed

Rockstar Games finally gave PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners the news they’ve been hoping for with a Grand Theft Auto V release date announcement for November, as The Inquisitr reported. PC gamers were not as lucky as that version of GTA V will not see the light of day until January 2015. Rockstar explained the reason behind the delay in a post on the game’s website Saturday.

“We’re glad to see so many of you are excited for the upcoming release of the new versions of GTAV and we look forward to sharing more details with you soon,” Rockstar wrote in the comments section to the release date announcement post. “We are also incredibly excited to be bringing GTAV to the PC, but the game requires a little more development time in order to ensure that it is as amazing and polished as possible. Please do stay tuned as we reveal new features and information about all the new versions in the weeks ahead.”

The new features described so far for the PS4, Xbox One and PC include new weapons, vehicles and activities, plus more wildlife and denser traffic. Meanwhile, GTA Online has been expanded to 30 players, and there are also the graphical upgrades that include not only an increased resolution, but enhanced damage and weather effects as well.

The PC version of GTA V will also have a feature that will not be present in any of the console versions. The 2014 E3 announcement by Rockstar Games included mention of a “video editor designed for advanced movie-making.”

This additional feature would help explain some of the delay of GTA V for the PC, but not all. Rockstar has never released a PC version of one of their titles. Sometimes the delay following the console version has been weeks as in the case of Max Payne 3 or months such as with Grand Theft Auto IV.

This has been the pattern for the developer regardless of the game. Sometimes the console version never even gets a PC port. That’s exactly what happened with Red Dead Redemption.

Juggling multiple releases of a game is always a chore for a developer. It is part of the reason why Destiny got a release on PlayStation and Xbox consoles, but not the PC. Activision is still playing coy with the release of that as well.

Reaction among the GTA community is mixed, however. In the GTA V Reddit alone, there are posts full of outrage.

“Well done Rockstar. The whole PC Community hates you. We are the ones who still play San Andreas and we are the ones who are responsible for your success. Console gamers may buy more games at the moment, but in 1-2 years nearly no console gamer will play GTA V anymore. It will be the PC community that will keep your game alive.”

“We seriously don’t care about any problems or polish you have to do to, because we know that there are lies. Lies over lies.” The PC version won’t be delayed” was a lie and you keep lying!”

“Just because your game is good you can’t do whatever you want. You have enough money to have the PC version ready at Novermber [sic] 18!”

And there are other posts that are a little more accepting of the delay situation.

“Basically all PC players are getting all pissed off how it’s delayed until January. I’m fine with the delay. I’d rather have a game that works with minimal bugs than a game that is broken. There has to be a reason as to why it’s delayed. Maybe it’s not up to par with their standards. We don’t want another GTA 4.”

What do you think of the PC delay for GTA V? Let us know in the comments below.

[Images via Rockstar Games]