Rockstar have officially announced the Spring 2013 release period for Grand Theft Auto V. A new artwork was also released.

Today, we're proud to announce that Grand Theft Auto V is expected to launch worldwide spring 2013 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Developed by series creator Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto V takes place in a re-imagined, present-day Southern California in the largest and most thriving game-world we have ever created set in the sprawling city of Los Santos and for miles beyond – from the tops of the mountains to the depths of the ocean.

Starting next week November 5, 2012, Grand Theft Auto V will become available for pre-order everywhere and fans can expect a host of new information to become available in November.

Links: Full press release | Newswire post

UK retailer GAME this morning tweeted confirmation of GTAV's Spring 2013 release date (which we posted about a few days ago) via one of its local Twitter feeds for a store in Brighton. The tweet encouraged users to pre-order GTA V and contained a photo of 3 different box art designs, two of which feature brand new artworks. The tweet has since been deleted, but of course people had already saved it. You can check out the photo of the artworks below (click for the full size image).

A photo of a promotional poster for GTA V allegedly taken by an employee of a store in London has found its way into the hands GTA fans today. The poster features the new "Pest Control" artwork which was released the other day, as well as a brand new piece of artwork depicting a character with a dog on a chain. Please excuse the obnoxious watermark added by another fansite, we don't have the original photo at this time.

Another photo with a close up of the the board shows "Pre-order now - Spring 2013", putting the release date between March and June next year. It's also worth noting that the promo only shows the Xbox 360 and PS3 logos, leading us to the unsurprising conclusion that Rockstar will once again release a PC version later on in the year.

While most "leaks" are in fact not leaks and simply faked items of media or information that we don't bother posting about, this one does not appear to be fake. It does look pretty legit, and given the fact that we're expecting a lot of new info very shortly, the timing of this makes sense. One would expect to see promo pieces like this up in stores in the coming weeks, and we imagine an official announcement on release timing will be forthcoming from Rockstar themselves some time very soon.

Source: GTAForums thread

Game Informer's editor-in-chief, Andy McNamara, has just announced the release schedule for December's Grand Theft Auto V issue on the magazine's website.

In the morning of November 8 (US Central time), Game Informer will reveal the cover art and give a break down of the issue. McNamara says that the story is huge - over 18 pages in print - and full of details and screens. Following this in the afternoon (US Central time), they will release the digital edition of Game Informer to iPad, 10-inch Android devices, and PC/Mac (individual issues cost .99 - the app itself is free). Those of you who actually subscribe to the print issue; that will already be in the mail and should arrive to you in the weeks that follow. The magazine will be on newsstands from the 16th November.

For those of you who aren't able to get hold of the magazine, don't worry, we'll have a full summary of all the new screenshots and information right here on the homepage, as soon after release as possible.

Rockstar have just released the first official GTA V artwork, featuring a scene from last year's debut trailer titled "Pest Control". Rockstar also promised "lots of info coming next month", some of which we know will be coming from Game Informer's exclusive preview

You can grab the artwork in various sizes for your devices from the official website.

Game Informer's editor-in-chief Andy McNamara has just confirmed via Twitter that GTA V will be the magazine's December cover story. We imagine this issue will be out in early November.