Rockstar publisher Take-Two believes releasing Grand Theft Auto V close to the rumoured launch of the next-generation Xbox and PlayStation won’t negatively affect interest in the game from consumers.

Take-Two was asked during the company’s Q3 financial call last night about the prospect of Grand Theft Auto V taking the same kind of cross-generational stance that developers like Bungie and DICE are said to be using. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick remained firm that Rockstar’s latest game would do absolutely fine on current-gen platforms.

“Let’s have a little gentlemen’s bet,” he said. “Bet there is not one gamer who’s going to sit out of Grand Theft Auto V hoping that something down the road is going to come along that’s better. Grand Theft Auto V is going to blow everyone away, and it will be in the market in September.”

Zelnick didn’t rule out the possibility of the series going next-gen, as one analyst predicted last week, and said the publisher was planning its future as well as it could. “In terms of strategy around current-gen and next-gen, we have to wait for the announcements,” he said.

“Look, we’re always looking over our shoulder. I’m a big believer that arrogance is the enemy of continued success. But we are planning as well as we can, and we think we are extremely well positioned.”

GTAV will be released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on September 17.

Elsewhere in Take-Two’s earnings call the publisher reported a 148 per cent rise in profits and that Borderlands 2 has now shipped six million copies.