John Riccitiello has told an audience of investors that it was EA’s plan all along to seal its acquisiton of Take Two before the end of the year, rather than before the record-breaking release of GTA IV.

Kotaku reports that Riccitiello spoke of the Take Two deal at William Blair & Company's annual stock conference, stating: “We were extremely explicit that there was no possibility whatsoever that we would be able to acquire the company or close the transaction prior to the release of GTA IV.”

“What we said is we wanted to close the transaction in time to affect holiday sales for some of the games like Midnight Club, catalog for GTA and others. And so the reason we’re continuing to extend it, that was our plan all along and that was the way we described it at the time.”