Take-Two, the parent company for gaming publisher Rockstar, annouced today that Rockstar will not be at E3 this summer to unveil highly-anticipated details about Grant Theft Auto V. The GTA 5 release date is now a hot button topic for gamers but nothing from Rockstar or Take-Two has indicated the expected September 2013 release date to change. But fret not GTA faithful, Take-Two is planning on ratcheting up its marketing and PR efforts to make up for the lack of a booth at the Los Angeles event.

Karl Slatoff, President of Take-Two, said in a statement,

“Both Rockstar Games and 2K have instead decided to focus their marketing and PR efforts on a series of events throughout the spring and summer. Our team, however, will be present at the show, and we look forward to seeing many of you there…Our philosophy on the show is that we like the show, we participate in a meaningful way in the show. It’s a great place for the industry to get together, and we’re highly supportive of it. This year it just didn’t make sense for us at the same level.”

A majority of publishers are expected to offer more details on their next-gen gaming line-up at the highly publicized event, though now it’ll be interesting to see what Take-Two and Rockstar have in store for their fans.

GTA 5 is the latest installment of the car-stealing Grand Theft Auto franchise and features Michael, Franklin, and Trevorm as Grand Theft Auto V’s three main characters. The enormous virtual world that Rockstar describes as the largest it’s ever created, Los Santos, is on full display in the trailers and picture gallery as well.

Pre-order for GTA V is currently available in the U.S on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. I wonder if Rockstar will publish a version for the upcoming Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4…

So how do you all feel about GTA 5’s soon-to-be lack of presence at E3? Do you think this summer’s marketing efforts will be even more grandiose? Will the game even be released on time? September is, after all, the date decided upon after Rockstar delayed its release for four months. Is this just a way to keep Rockstar and game developers from falling behind? Drop all of your GTA 5 knowledge on us in the comments section below.