Rockstar has today confirmed the shock news that DS outing Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be released on Sony’s PSP later this year.

In line with Sony’s digital overhaul of the upcoming PSPgo, Chinatown Wars will be released both as a digital title and on UMD disc.

“We're proud to extend this truly unique handheld Grand Theft Auto experience to PSP and offer a downloadable version of Chinatown Wars for PSPgo,” Rockstar founder Sam Houser stated.

“Rockstar Leeds has shown incredible talent in creating games that raise the bar in terms of depth and innovation on portables, and with Chinatown Wars we have a rich, fast-paced, and incredibly addictive entry into the series.”

SCEA president and CEO Jack Tretton added: “Rockstar's work with the GTA series has been an enormous part of the success of PlayStation platforms. We're excited to welcome the critically acclaimed Chinatown Wars to the outstanding line-up of great games headed to the PSP platform this fall.”

The game is being developed by Rockstar Leeds in conjunction with Rockstar North and will be released this autumn.

Chinatown Wars has been the subject of close scrutiny since its release on DS earlier in the year. Critically the game was heralded as a classic, but sales of the title, whilst decent, were a shadow of those enjoyed by its console predecessors, leading many to question the potential of mature-rated titles on the format.

The PSP seems a better fit for the GTA demographic – the question now is exactly how much pulling power the PSP still commands.