Strauss Zelnick: holiday sales, GTA 4 delay issues squashed

It looks like Take-Two Interactive chairman Strauss Zelnick is still pretty tight lipped about the release date for the much anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, Xbox 360). In a recent statement, however, he finally sets the record straight on the status of the game.

Check out what else Strauss Zelnick had to say right after the jump!

It looks like Take-Two Interactive chairman Strauss Zelnick is still pretty tight lipped about the release date for the much anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, Xbox 360). However, in a recent statement, he finally sets the record straight on the status of the game.

During the recent 2007 BMO Capital Markets Interactive Entertainment Summit in New York City, Zelnick clarified that his previous statement regarding the release of GTA 4 was merely a confirmation of the previous release date they had given to the public, which was the second fiscal quarter of next year.

So gamers who are expecting more car stealing, car chasing mayhem will probably see the game hit shelves around the beginning of February and the end of April, according to Zelnick.

He also mentioned that the video games industry shouldn’t be so holiday-centric. While he admitted that other industries are guaranteed to get good sales during the Christmas season, the interactive entertainment business should concentrate on changing the consumer’s mindset instead. Specifically, he mentioned this:

I don’t necessarily believe the change in these release dates affects that, but if the side effect of these release dates is that consumers say, ‘This is great. I can buy terrific games year-round,’ then obviously that would be a good thing for the industry and not just Take-Two.

That said, he was still elusive into giving a specific street date for GTA 4, saying they will be releasing it “when it’s ready”. Grand Theft Auto IV is slated to be released next year on both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 platforms.