Grand Theft Auto V delayed, due September 17

Grand Theft Auto V has been delayed and will hit store shelves September 17, Rockstar Games announced today. The game was previously targeted to launch sometime this spring for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Explaining the delay, Rockstar said the extra time will allow the company to polish the game further.

"We know this is about four months later than originally planned and we know that this short delay will come as a disappointment to many of you, but, trust us, it will be worth the extra time," the company said in a statement.

"GTAV is a massively ambitious and complex game and it simply needs a little more polish to be of the standard we and, more importantly, you require."

Notably absent from Rockstar's announcement of the GTAV release date today was mention of a PC or Wii U version of the game. The company previously said these versions were "up for consideration." Grand Theft Auto IV originally launched only for Xbox 360 and PS3, but was later made available on PC.

GTAV was announced in October 2011, and a teaser trailer that followed in November confirmed that the game will be set primarily in present-day Los Santos, a fictional town modeled on Los Angeles. Rockstar has also said that GTAV boasts the largest scope of any installment in the franchise to date.

The GTAV game world is reportedly bigger than Red Dead Redemption, GTA: San Andreas, and GTAIV combined.

GTAV features three protagonists, making it the first title in the series to tell its primary story through multiple characters. However, it is not an entirely novel idea for the franchise. GTAIV focused its narrative on the story of Niko Bellic, but ensuing downloadable expansions depicted Liberty City from the viewpoints of two additional characters.

GTAV will have some big shoes to fill. Its predecessor, GTAIV, was a massive success for Rockstar and Take-Two. The game has shipped over 25 million copies, placing it among the top-performing games of all time. In total, the Grand Theft Auto franchise itself has shipped over 125 million copies.

Entertainment Design and Research analyst Jesse Divnich said in November that he thinks GTAV has the potential to sell north of 25 million copies during its first 12 months on the market.

For more on GTAV, check out GameSpot's video breakdown of the game's second trailer (below), as well as all previous coverage.