GTA 5 Release Date Still Set For 2012, Will Sell 'At Least 18 Million - Report

GTA 5 is still likely to launch before the end of the year, according to Wedbush Securities' Michael Pachter.

"We cannot construct a scenario in which Take-Two could generate the revenue or Earnings Per Share needed to achieve FY:13 guidance without GTA V," reads the report - to put it another way, as previously reported, Take-Two won't be able to make the amount of revenue it's forecast by April 2013 without a GTA 5 release.

"We expect GTA V to sell at least 18 million units, representing a 20% attach rate to the estimated 2011 year-end installed base of PS3 and Xbox 360 in the U.S. and Europe," the report continues.

"Also, we believe that the game's developers are unlikely to risk delay very far into CY 2013 and battle declining current-generation software sales in the face of the potential introduction of next-generation consoles that year or the next."

So, a GTA 5 release in late 2012/early 2013? Keep those fingers crossed.

The beginnings of a GTA 5 viral campaign were unveiled this morning.