Rockstar Games announced that the latest installment of its crime-themed blockbuster video game “Grand Theft Auto” will hit PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles in November.
“Grand Theft Auto V” will be packed with enhancements when it is released for play on the new-generation consoles from rivals Microsoft and Sony, according to publisher Take-Two Interactive Software.
The game “will feature a range of major visual and technical upgrades to make Los Santos and Blaine County more immersive than ever.”
GTA V for the beefed-up consoles will boast new weapons and vehicles along with “denser traffic.”
The number of people who could play simultaneously in online sessions will be ramped to 30.
People who pre-order the title are being promised a million dollars - in pretend in-game cash to spend while playing.
Take-Two posted a new video of game action behind an age-gate online at www.rockstargame.com/V.
Actress Lindsay Lohan is suing the creators of “Grand Theft Auto V” over a character she contends is an unsanctioned virtual version of herself.
She filed a lawsuit in July in New York City, where Take-Two is based.
Lawyers for Take-Two and subsidiary Rockstar have fired back in court, arguing Lohan's suit is without merit and was pursued for publicity.
Versions of GTA V hit the streets in September of last year for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles as well as on computers powered by Windows software.
GTA V raked in more than a billion dollars in a record-shattering first three days on the shelves for the unabashedly violent video game.
Take-Two chief executive Strauss Zelnick called the game “a cultural phenomenon.”
Take-Two's unit Rockstar Games spent five years crafting the title, with a rumored production budget of $270 million, and the time paid off for gamers, according to a slew of reviews giving it top marks.
The GTA franchise has won legions of fans, and about as many critics, for game play in which winning depends on acts such as carjacking, gambling and killing.
Play in Grand Theft Auto games has included simulated sex with prostitutes and drunken driving.
The fifth installment in the GTA series is set in a fictional city of Los Santos based on real-world Los Angeles and its nearby hills and beaches.
Rockstar said that GTA V “focuses on the pursuit of the almighty dollar” in a re-imagined Southern California.
It was billed by Take-Two as the “largest and most ambitious” title in a franchise that has sold more than 114 million copies since its debut in 1997.
Fans say GTA appeals with captivating story lines and an open-world format that lets players go wherever they wish in game worlds, noting that players can rob banks, take a yoga lesson or fly a plane, as well as play with or against one another online.
Sapa-AFP