As you may have heard, Rockstar have delayed the PC launch of GTA V. Hands up if you’re not surprised. Yes, the final piece of the GTA release puzzle still is not quite ready to be put into place, and that has disappointed many PC gamers. For such a hot topic it makes sense that a few VGU writers have an opinion to put forth.

It is a bit cynical to say we saw this delay coming, but a lot of people as pessimistic as myself predicted it. Rockstar will know the scrutiny they will face in March when GTA V finally hits PC, but with the game already a huge success, they don’t have a lot to gain or lose in this situation.

I imagine there are still an elite few PC gamers that haven’t experienced GTA V, waiting on the release for PC. Until recently I was part of that group. I came to my senses and bought the game on PS4 – I couldn’t bear to wait for the original January release date. Luckily Rockstar’s reasons seem to make sense.To the aforementioned GTA V virgins, do not be deterred in your abstinence.

As my colleague Callam Lawless puts it, “I actually find this to be encouraging news. The last thing anyone wants is another GTAIV debacle. That game is still hard to run on many high end rigs due to the terrible port. I’m as eager to play it on PC as the next guy, but if it is for the good of the game, then I believe Rockstar have made the right choice… That being said, I reckon the reason for the delay is actually due to Heists. They obviously want to ship the PC edition with Heists ready and I think that is the main reason they have pushed the date back as they obviously aren’t quite there yet. It will be interesting to see whether they will release on console before the PC version comes out now.” Callam’s views make a lot of sense, and it is impossible to disagree with him about GTA IV. If these delays were only focused on avoiding that hellish experience, I’d already believe it is worth the wait.

Callam also touched on the bigger picture of the GTA V delay announcement: Heists. Giving the game a later release date means Rockstar can provide GTA V to PC players with Heists available in online gameplay from launch – and considering that last-gen console players have been waiting years for this game mode, it would be a massive selling point. The statement that “the game requires a few extra weeks of testing and polish to make it as good as can be” will only backfire. They have opened the floodgates for every little bug and issue that may appear on launch, but they will be well aware of that and we can just hope they deal with issues swiftly.

Jake Stewart, another colleague, offers a more succinct summary: “At least Rockstar is being consistent in ruining my life.” An equally valid point in reflecting what a number of people have come to expect from Rockstar. I don’t think many people will argue that GTA V is a fantastic game, but it does have its flaws. Part of the beauty of the game, online in particular, are the weird and wonderful unexpected happenings, the things not planned for. Equally though, there is still a big annoyance regarding some of the seemingly simpler things – online matchmaking has never offered me a smooth experience. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve been kicked out of a game lobby and sent into a different world to my party. With Heists around the corner on all platforms you’d hope this would be sorted.

Mods are undoubtedly one of the biggest reasons to wait for GTA V on PC. The vanilla game will be more beautiful than ever, but nothing can offer more to a PC game than a massive modding community. Just look at GTA IV. It is a fun game on PC almost entirely because of the mods available. They range from aesthetic, apocalyptic, futuristic to downright mad, but they all offer some form of improvement to the game. There is the obvious intrigue as to how mods will work within GTA V on PC but you’d hope creators will have artistic freedom as in GTA IV.

To think that GTA V requires 65GB of hard drive space makes you understand the scope of the game, and how much more the PC version will have to offer than its console counterparts. Ultimately this delay begs the question of whether or not it is worth the wait. My opinion is that if you’ve waited this long, you can afford to wait a little longer. If you’ve caved in already like I have, then you’re probably planning on getting the game on PC anyway and porting your online content over into the most beautiful Rockstar world yet.