Rockstar Won't Be At E3; Game Reveal Purportedly On Hold

Rockstar, the publisher behind the recently released Red Dead Redemption, and upcoming titles like Max Payne 3 and L.A. Noire, is not planning to be at E3 in Los Angeles later this month; instead, it's reportedly opting to show off some of its new goods, like Max Payne 3 and L.A. Noire, to press at a later date.

"In the end, we feel we simply don't have enough time to show as much as we would like in the time available," a spokesperson told CVG, adding that the two aforementioned were once slated to be shown at the event. Rockstar confirmed-confirmed their lack of a "presence" at the show to VG247 as well. 

It should be noted that Rockstar rarely goes to E3 in a public, official capacity. Their new games, however, are often shown during the event. It's weird that they even had plans to attend E3, but the rumors swirling around may be shedding a little light on that mystery.
 
Purportedly Rockstar had plans to show a title of the unannounced variety at the event, which may possibly explain why it would attend. Nuts writer Rory Buckeridge (via VG247) helped restart the long-running new game reveal rumor by tweeting that Rockstar actually "pulled" the "launch." 
 
As MTV Multiplayer notes in their story about all of this, at least one analyst, EEDAR's Jesse Divnich, expected a Grand Theft Auto V reveal--several months ago, that is. In a conversation with Game Informer online in December 2009, Divnich said, "I think we're going to hear about another Grand Theft Auto [at E3]. I think there won't be any playable stuff," he added, saying the reveal would amount to a teaser. At the time, he expected the next GTA to drop in 2011.

Things have changed since Divnich originally dropped those thoughts. Max Payne 3 didn't hit as expected, and Red Dead Redemption blew our socks off. In a conversation with me this afternoon, the analyst gave me an update, stating that the possible PR from a Grand Theft Auto reveal wasn't a "necessity" for gamers to remember what Rockstar does. But it's also still possible that an announcement could be made.

"In late 2009 I assumed that Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3 would be out on retail shelves by E3, and L.A. Noire would be pending release, making a Grand Theft Auto announcement expected as many would be wondering about their ‘next’ big project.  Since then the gaming landscape has changed.
 
"With Rockstar having two major games still in development, Max Payne 3 and L.A. Noire, Rockstar is more likely to keep consumers focused on those pending releases this E3, rather than a Grand Theft Auto announcement," Divinich said. "Today, Rockstar is so much more than just the developers behind the Grand Theft Auto series; they now have several incredibly successful properties such as Red Dead Redemption, and have more in the works with L.A. Noire and The Agent. While I wouldn’t count out a Grand Theft Auto announcement, I also wouldn’t consider such PR a necessity to remind gamers of Rockstar’s existence. I think Red Dead Redemption proved to everyone that Rockstar is far from being a one-franchise publisher."

So where are we? Rockstar won't be attending E3 officially, and while it's still possible that a Grand Theft Auto or some other new game could be revealed at the Los Angeles-based event, it's not something Rockstar needs to do... but it would be nice.