The Ripple Effects Of The ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’ Delay

Last week, Rockstar confirmed news many gamers had been dreading for some time: their next major release, Grand Theft Auto VI, has been delayed to May 2026. Despite Take Two, Rockstar’s parent company, confirming multiple times the title was due this year, ultimately they decided it would be better to push the title into next year for the sake of ensuring the game maintains certain quality expectations. Yet a game as massive as Grand Theft Auto VI being pushed back has larger implications than just disappointing fans and wrecking more than a few people’s Fantasy Critic draft.

To start, the biggest effect GTA VI’s delay will have is the one that will go unnoticed by gamers — the drop in overall software sales for the year. The gaming industry has been struggling in the post-lockdown era as the dropoff of consumers in the space (and higher interest rates in the US) led to funding drying up. It was believed that both the new console launch from Nintendo and the release of GTA 6 could possibly stimulate enough growth in consumer spending to see greater investment in the years to come. Now, the industry will have to rely on the Nintendo Switch 2 alone to stimulate sales.

This discussion will bypass most gamers because it doesn’t directly affect them. However, slowed investment in video games will lead to both fewer games and more risk-averse titles, in an industry that already struggles to take risks at the AAA level to begin with. While fewer games might sound great to fans with large backlogs, there certainly isn’t anything fun about decreased funding leading to even more lay-offs and canceled projects. Hopefully, the remainder of 2025’s release slate can pick up the slack.

Of course, the news isn’t all bad. Grand Theft Auto VI was the kind of game that was guaranteed to take game of the year, but now that discussion is wide open. Over the last couple of months, we’ve already seen multiple titles release that deserve GOTY consideration: Blue Prince, Split Fiction, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are proof that the industry still has plenty of creativity left, and can launch games at budget prices while still achieving both commercial and critical success.

There’s still plenty to come for the remainder of the year, as well. Microsoft still has DOOM: The Dark Ages this May, while the remainder of Toby Fox’s next major game Deltarune launches in June. That month also brings the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch, which launches with both Mario Kart World in June and Donkey Kong: Bananza in July. Other major titles for the remainder of the year include Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Borderlands 4, and Ghost of Yotei, just to name a few. With some strong contenders already, the race to win Game of the Year is still wide open, making it an exciting time as a gamer.

Of course, there’s one more thing that only a handful of people are discussing now: how much is GTA VI going to cost? For a while now, analysts have been suggesting that Grand Theft Auto VI might cost $100, opening the door for more expensive titles from other major publishers. Yet Nintendo and Microsoft are already opening that door, with Mario Kart World already confirmed to be $80, and Xbox saying some of their titles later this year will reach that price point as well.

With GTA 6 now delayed until May 2026, Take-Two will get months of data on just how well gamers react to $80 video games. If Nintendo or Xbox see slowed sales in response to $80, there might be slight hesitation to raise their prices to match. Yet if both see record sales, it’s possible GTA 6 might be even more expensive, as it’s going to be the biggest product in entertainment history. Could a $90 or even $100 title truly be on the horizon? The entire industry will be laser-focused on Rockstar in 2026.