Grand Theft Auto 6is highly anticipated by fans of the series, but it turns out many publishers are also anticipating the game’s release. Rockstar Games is at the top of the industry, andGTA 6is clearly going to be a huge seller, which means the competition has to stay out of the way. And a new report hints at just what other AAA studios are thinking aboutGTA 6’s impending release in 2025.
It’s hard to ignoreGrand Theft Auto 6whenRockstar spent a lot of money on its development. Some are even callingGTA 6the most expensive game ever madebased on rumored development costs. And that’s all on top of how anticipated the nextGTAgame is, with new rumors and reports seemingly arriving every week. It’s easy to see how the competition may see the release as a big obstacle.
New Report Says GTA 6 Release Will Cause Major Games To Delay
It’s Hard To Blame Publishers Who Are Worried About Sales
A new report fromThe Game Businessreveals thatthe impending release ofGrand Theft Auto 6is causing widespread anxietyamong game publishers. There are some confirmed delays and strategic shifts in release dates for several high-profile titles in 2025. The sheer scale ofGTA 6’s anticipated dominance is making many publishers take drastic measures to avoid direct competition in what is expected to be the biggest gaming event of the year.
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Industry executives are openly voicing their concerns to The Game Business. One boss of a world’s leading game publisher stated thatRockstar Games' releases always suck a lot of money and time out of the market. It’s hard to imagine that publishers want their games anywhere near that. The Game Business also said that some publishers have many different plans for titles, which would help ifGTAwere to announce thedelay everyone is worried is coming.
According to theFinancial Times,Grand Theft Auto 6is expected to make 40 million sales and $3 billion in revenue in its first year. This sounds reasonable thanks to how important the series is to the gaming industry. It is not a wild statement to say thatGrand Theft Auto 6may be the highest-selling game this decade after it releases. It’s one of the most anticipated sequels sinceGTA 5was released in 2013.
The “blast zone” isn’t going to be focused on the week of release, but instead the weeks around release…
GTA 5only took three days to reach a billion dollars in sales, perGameindustry.GTA 5accounted for 50% of all game revenue during its launch month in the US, while it accounted for two thirds in the UK. This is despite only being available for the latter half of the month. The Game Business claimspublishers refer to the around aGTArelease as “the blast zone,“which may mean other games won’t be safe.
No One Wants To Release A Game When GTA 6 Launches
No One Wants To Take On The Top Dog
The impending release ofGrand Theft Auto 6is not something to overlook. Any other games will be affected if they launch around that time, because so many gamers will wantGTA 6on release. The hype has risen so high that itwouldn’t even matter to someif the game came out at $100.Publishers have to be careful when they choose to launch their gamesbecause too much attention would be on theGrand Theft Autorelease.
The “blast zone” isn’t going to be focused on the week of release, but instead the weeks around release, which is a period whenGTA 6will likely dominate the market’s conversation and consumer focus. Unfortunately, since no one knows whenGrand Theft Autowill release, it’s a game of waiting. Finding a safe window is almost impossible right now, and if one is given around the release date, then a delay needs to be made and that game will face the ire of players.
One publisher told The Game Business, “If [GTA 6] arrives in late October, that means you either have to launch early… Or go later, putting you up against the Black Friday sales.“It’s hard to plan a release day, but it’s even harder when you have to plan against an unknown, and publishers need contingency plans on top of strategic maneuvering just to try and release this year.
There Will Be A Time With No Releases
Grand Theft Auto 6is great, but it will cast a long shadow over the 2025 video game industry. If a few publishers want toavoid competing with Rockstar, they’re going to have to release late or early. It is doubtful that a game will release early, so publishers will likely have to wait until after the release ofGTAfor their own games. That’s okay for anyone who is waiting forGTA 6, but not for everyone else.
The most immediate consequence is a compressed release schedule, since every other studio will likely attempt to avoid Rockstar’s date. Instead of a steady stream of diverse games throughout the year,players can expect a potentially chaotic crowding of releases in specific time windows. These concentrated release periods mean a higher likelihood of highly anticipated games launching in proximity to each other. This will lead to some intense competition for player attention and hurt sales for everyone.
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This increased competition isn’t just bad for the games alone;releasing too many games at one time makes the odds of any one game achieving lasting success more difficult. That could mean not shining enough to get future titles. Publishers will, understandably, focus their marketing dollars on the windows with the least competition. The games that aren’t part of the big releases run the risk of being overlooked. For a studio making an indie game or a double A, that could mean the end of their business.
Then there are those who have to compete withGTA 6. A sudden influx of major releases, all vying for attention, places players in a position to make choices. Some players can choose more than one, but for many, $70 is a lot of money. Games are not cheap, and a budget means that only one game can be bought. This meansplayers can’t get the game they wanted after they buyGTA,so even the big studios will get hurt by the release.
We live in an interesting time when games can get too successful for the competition. We can only guess the effect this will have, but it is a difficult time for any studio that is trying to release this year. Rockstar is pretty much guaranteed to outsell anyone who dares get in the way, and that may mean we’ll see a period of no competition forGTAafter the release ofGrand Theft Auto 6. Hopefully, things can get back to normal soon after.
