'GTA V' Likely Coming in Early 2013 for 360, PS3 and Wii U

Analyst Arvind Bhatia suggests that this launch window will help to maximize sales.

There's no question that 'Grand Theft Auto V' will be big, and Take Two wants to make sure that sales numbers reflect that. That's one of the reasons that analyst Arvind Bhatia suggests we'll see the title as a spring 2013 launch, rather than something to compete in the already packed holiday season.

Bhatia says that Take Two may also wish to allow their game to start selling right at the end of the company's fiscal year, which wraps up in March of 2013.

The most interesting part of the speculation is that Take Two may be looking for "a larger installed base including the potential for launch on Nintendo Wii U." This would be the first full-on 'Grand Theft Auto' game for a Nintendo system and the second overall.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz