Ironically, Grand Theft Auto IV was originally supposed to be part of the fall rush—the release was planned for October 16, 2007. But game bugs and internal problems at Rockstar Games’ parent company, Take-Two Interactive, pushed back the release. In the past 12 months, Take-Two lost key staff, weathered a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of stock-option issuing, and has been fighting a hostile takeover by behemoth Electronics Arts.

Yet various Wall Street analysts expect Grand Theft Auto IV to sell 5.8 million within the first week and just over nine million by year’s end. The evidence is in the preorders: Major online retailers, such as Britain’s Play.com, stopped issuing Grand Theft Auto preorder vouchers earlier this month simply because they were afraid they wouldn’t be able to fulfill them all.

A few companies have purposely embraced the nontraditional season—but they are by far in the minority. “This January to [April] release period has become really important to Capcom,” says Chris Kramer, the company’s senior director of communications and community. A decade ago, Capcom faced a G.T.A. IV-like issue when one of its flagship titles, Resident Evil, had to be pushed from October 1995 to March 1996. According to Capcom, the series still sold more than 27 million copies worldwide; it has since spawned movies, action figures, and other paraphernalia.

“We spend three to four years, millions of dollars to make a game, to compete with 75 other games in the same exact space,” Kramer says. “I would imagine a lot of companies have been able to run the NPD [sales] numbers and see outside of the three-month window.”

Capcom’s most recent game, Devil May Cry 4, was released on February 4 and has already sold several hundred-thousand copies, “slightly ahead of projections.”

“The biggest reason for moving outside of the holidays is to avoid the clutter, which can dilute P.R. coverage and marketing activities,” says Jeff Reese, Sony’s director of software marketing. “The cost of media—particularly TV—can also be lower in the first part of the year.” Earlier this month, Sony released the highly anticipated racing game Gran Turismo 4 Prologue on the PlayStation 3 and, since 2005, has released a new installment of its multiplatinum God of War series almost every March.

“March provided a less-cluttered time period [for the original God of War],” Reese says. “[It allowed] this new brand to achieve better breakthrough.”

However, the loosing of the holiday ties also lies with the consumer. According to the 2007 Electronic Software Association report, the average videogamer is a 33-year-old male. It seems the teenagers who grew up with old Nintendo systems are still playing—and don’t need to beg their parents to put a $60 videogame under the Christmas tree. “We don’t need freaking Santa Claus to deliver it,” Hickey says. “There are adults playing this thing now.”

Damon Brown is the author of the upcoming Porn & Pong: How Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider, and Other Sexy Games Changed Our Culture, available in October.