Grand Theft Auto 6's delay has just affected the entire video game industry

Grand Theft Auto's Great Theft, there's some good news and some bad news. The good news finally, over the years, we have actual date release times for GTA 6. Bad news? About six months later than the “Autumn 2025” we were initially told. For many in the video game industry New date on May 26, 2026 It’s gratifying, and comforting – dozens of publishers and developers of all sizes are afraid of meticulously planning their distribution activities, only to find out later that they will be released with this Herculean Title the same month. But, thanks to next year's land, there are many heavy people with undated dates that will now be frantically searching for new dates.

It's obvious that Grand Theft Auto 6 finds itself touted as the Lynchpin for the near future of the video game industry – any news about the development of the project has a huge ripple effect. So how does the six-month delay reflect a significant change in Rockstar’s corporate culture, questioning console market revenue this year and potentially affecting Switch 2?

The total revenue of the video game industry reached US$184.3 billion last year, an increase of 0.2% from 2023. predict This has caused relief from video game makers and publishers due to the slight downturn. However, in the console space, revenues fell by 1% – we have seen the consequences. Sluggish console hardware sales and technology-enhanced technology tariff wars force prices to rise Microsoft and Sony. This generation needs a definite console conversion title – it requires Grand Theft Auto 6.

The research team estimates that the crime sequel will only be pre-ordered $1 billion, and In the first year of release, $3.2 billion. It took 5 days to steal a majestic car and earn $1 billion. Can you only have 24 hours of Grand Theft Auto 6? Carriage analyst Mat Piscatella believes “In the industry, there may never be anything more important.” Because the impact of gaming will help define our understanding of the potential growth of the video game industry over the next decade. Rumors say this could be the first $100 video game ever, a new watershed for the industry. This new benchmark could allow many analysts in the industry to say the need for a shot growth. However, Grand Theft Auto 6 may also be a single outlier that cannot create progress outside of itself.

In 2018, Rockstar Games encountered a propaganda crisis. Report 100 hours of week beside In the past, it was forced to work overtime While developing Red Dead Redemption 2, add the previous and Current employee Talking about the drastic austerity of Grand Theft Auto 4, a stark picture of one of the game's giants is portrayed. Since then, the company has reportedly undergone internal reshaping – according to Bloomberg Reportcontractors were converted to full-time employees and developed “flexible” policies that allowed workers to take time off every hour, just two of the many compassionate policies were formulated. Rockstar's old reputation threatened to rise earlier this year Return to the office five days a week To end the development of Grand Theft Auto 6 – this move makes the reason behind the delay clear. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier in Brucekyexplains that his own Rockstar source said, “There is too much work, not enough time, and the real desire of management to avoid cruel austerity from management.” Rockstar will not be able to deliver the game correctly, which will become an old habit that will change the video game world; while the delay is disappointed for those who play, it is undeniable, and it is a huge relief for those developing.

If you are a publisher, releasing the game simultaneously with Grand Theft Auto 6 is similar to throwing a bucket of water into a tsunami. Discussing the previously planned “Autumn 2025” release window, report on the report Game business Emphasizes how this vague date affects publishers around the world. A studio owner called Rockstar’s game “A giant meteor, we just need to stay away from the explosion zone”, while another questioned “what if we move out of 2025, if Rockstar would do that?” (No wonder, predictive concern). We even have EA CEO Andrew Wilson Implicit Comments On the looming shadow of the game on the new battlefield, the reason is that “something happens in the year may lead us to think differently about the timing of release.”

But huge distributions don't always hide the people around you. Despite being released simultaneously with Bethesda's Forgotten Remake, Kepler's original RPG Clair Imbscur: Expedition 33 Still More than one million copies sold in just three dayssenior portfolio manager Matt Handrahan even joked that it was the video game industry Babangheim's moment. Of course, it's hard to believe that Grand Theft Auto 6 can exist such a moment, so it's not to say that such a quirky idea won't be part of any publisher's campaign. Don't expect the allegorical moment of theft in 2026.

At present, it is unclear to what extent the new release date on May 26, 2026 will shake other publishers and developers’ plans. There are still many undated slam champions, including Fables, War Gears: E-Day, EA's new battlefield champion, Mass Effect Spiritual Successor Exodus, and more. There will certainly be some developers scrambling to change their internal release date plans right now, but the wider public won't be smarter. But this flag plant from Rockstar undoubtedly means developers and publishers will feel more confident about announcing a launch plan to the world. But they might want to keep it for a minute.

This seems unlikely to be the last date for Grand Theft Auto 6 for two reasons. Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Death Redemption 2 are both Delayed by two datesthe first delay is Next year's second quarterand then delay the second time to The third quarter of the same year. Currently, Grand Theft Auto 6 is replicating, with the exact same schedule from Fall 2025 to May 2026, so delaying to October/November 2026 seems like a reasonably educated forecast.

That October/November window seems more likely when you consider the potential of both Microsoft and Sony to create a new console bundle (including a crime sequel), which certainly will be sales around the holidays. Sony is October-December 2014more than twice the gaming consoles sold between April and September of that year. Of course there will be a classic Christmas boost, but what else will happen in that time frame? Grand Theft Auto 5 is released on PS4.

Rockstar only has one shot to do this – 13 years later and six months?

But the bigger surprise is that Nintendo may be one of the parties most affected by this delay. Recently, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick Ensure full support for switch 2fans of the leader speculate whether they will also pay attention to Grand Theft Auto 6 released by Switch 2. The definitive version of Grand Theft Auto: The trilogy surprisingly launched the Nintendo Switch, so there is a precedent for adult franchise on a typical family-friendly console. Many people think that Switch technology isn't enough to run games like Grand Theft Auto, but last year Modders released a video Ports during the process of running GTA 5 on the switch Use the game's leaked source code. While it seems unlikely that Nintendo will succeed in bringing Grand Theft Auto 6 to the first year of Switch, there is a clear, strong relationship between publishers Take-Two and Nintendo that should not be ignored. Nintendo remains an important part of this when viewing the console market as part of the overall video game industry. Nintendo Switch remains the host of a range of game-defining hosts, including The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Red Death Redemption, Metal Gear Solid, Crisis, and more. With Cyberpunk 2077 reaching Switch 2 at launch, which currently only uses the Gen-Fantom Phantom Liberty extension, we should not ignore the potential of the “Miracle” port.

Obviously, there are a lot of rides on the Grand Theft Auto 6. It is hard to deny the global demand and expectations of fever, and this game has actually been around for more than a decade. Expectations from Rockstar Games’ team are unlikely to be high, not only can they recover the video game industry alone but their pre-popular growth, but also showcase a brand new video game experience that will be a new benchmark for developers and publishers to move forward. Rockstar only has one shot to do this – 13 years later and six months?

Sab Astley is a freelance writer who has written for IGN, Polygon, TotalFilm, Rolling Stone, Radio Times and UK Metro.