Analyst confidently lays out GTA timeline

While gamers debate the existence of Grand Theft Auto IV on the iPhone, a gaming analyst has forecast that two more downloadable episodes of the game will be launched before GTA V is unveiled.

Rockstar has already confirmed that GTA IV’s second downloadable episode, The Ballad of Gay Tony, will be launched this autumn. But Todd Mitchell, an analyst at US-based Kaufman Bros. Equity Research, has said that 2010 will see yet more updates.

“I would expect that there would be two more pieces of downloadable content for GTA IV. That's what has been indicated to me, although formats are unsure,” he told website Games Industry.

Mitchell reportedly added that GTA V will then appear in the 2011 financial year.

He also said he’s confident of “a new GTA for PlayStation 2” arriving in the coming years. It seems odd that Rockstar would devote its time to the development a game for a console that Sony’s already superseded – although, admittedly, PS2 popularity remains strong.

Unfortunately, Mitchell didn’t have anything to say about game content, so we’re left guessing about the new plotlines, characters, cars and guns. ®