Microsoft muscles in on Sony's patch for fourth GTA outing

The next Grand Theft Auto game will debut on Microsoft's Xbox 360 as well as Sony's PlayStation 3.

GTA developer Rock Star Games announced at the E3 games conference that the title will launch for both next-generation consoles simultaneously in October next year.

Previous GTA games have only been available on PlayStation consoles at launch and have been ported over to the Xbox after a lengthy delay.

Microsoft confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 4 will be the first game in the franchise to launch on a system other than the PlayStation.

Since its launch back in 1998, the GTA series has sold almost 40 million copies. GTA San Andreas courted controversy last year after the discovery of hidden porn scenes.