Game Publishers Are Steering Clear Of GTA 6’s Release Window

The gaming industry is in a bit of a scheduling scramble, and the culprit? Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 6. With a staggering 435 million lifetime sales across the franchise and the monumental success of GTA 5—which reached US$1 billion in retail sales faster than any entertainment release in history—GTA 6 is shaping up to be a juggernaut.

Currently slated for a fall 2025 release, GTA 6 has publishers on edge. According to Bloomberg, many are holding off announcing their own launch dates for next autumn, waiting to see if Rockstar’s timeline holds or slips into 2026. The aim? To avoid going head-to-head with the gaming behemoth.

Even Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar’s parent company, is strategically avoiding competition among its own titles. With Borderlands 4 also set to drop next year, Take-Two’s CEO Strauss Zelnick candidly told Variety:

“I think it’s safe to say that we wouldn’t, and no one would, stack up huge releases unnecessarily.”

For rival publishers, it’s a no-brainer. Competing directly with GTA 6 isn’t just risky—it’s a sales nightmare. It seems everyone is more than willing to hit the brakes and let Rockstar take the wheel.