Release date outed for GTA V?

Was the upcoming release date of Rockstar North’s Grand Theft Auto V inadvertently given away by online retailer Walmart.com?

The internet division of the retail giant from Bentonville Arkansas currently has an advertisement for GTA V on both XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 for which the shipping date is listed as December 31st, 2012.

The release quarter originally given for the newest entry of Rockstar’s flagship series was Q4 of 2013. Quarter four of the fiscal year would put the release date between Jan 1st and March 30th 2013.

GTA IV, the last iteration was released on April 29th, 2008. Rockstar doesn’t quite share Activisions predilection of releasing their top series on consistent dates, however this time frame has another reason for being quite likely.

Take-Two the parent company of Rockstar North has reported an outlook for Quarter 4 of the fiscal year which it plans for an increase of $1.75 to $2.00 per diluted share. Several analysts including Michael Pachter believe the only answer to Take-Two’s generous forecast is a title selling at least 18 million units. With Bioshock Infinite being the only big name release currently being slated for the target quarter, GTA V begins to look like a lock for release in this time period.

As for the Walmart.com release date, it seems to be more of a place holder date than a true release point. Also listed for release the same day is Sanzaru Games title Sly Cooper: Thieves in time. Originally given the same q4 2013 release period, it has since been confirmed with a Feb. 28th release date.

So while the December 31st release is quite possible, it is just as likely as any date between then and March 30th.