The games industry reacts to the delay of GTA 6

The games industry has been left reeling from the announcement that GTA 6 has been delayed yet again, with its release pushed back from May to November 19, 2026. The news was revealed as part of Take-Two Interactive’s impressive second quarter financial results, and Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told GamesIndustry.biz that he was “not in the least” bit worried about the impact of the delay on his business.

But it’s fair to assume that the news has been causing worry elsewhere in the industry – particularly for publishers who have releases lined up in Q4 2024, which will now be up against what is likely to be the biggest game launch in history. Others, however, will be relishing the prospect of a newly opened up Q2 window.

GamesIndustry.biz contacted a range of industry figures – including publishers, marketers, and journalists – to find out their reaction to the GTA 6 delay and how it might affect their plans for 2026. You’ll find their responses below – but first, analyst Piers Harding-Rolls gives his take on how the delay might affect the industry as a whole.

Piers Harding-Rolls (research director, games, Ampere Analysis)

Publishers will undoubtedly shuffle around their release schedules to avoid going head-to-head with GTA 6. However, some annual franchises regularly arrive in November, including Call of Duty. I’m not sure it’s in the interests of the industry or market for those to release in the same month. It’s possible the 2026 version of CoD might come earlier than November. The publishers that have releases coming in the previous launch window will of course be breathing more easily.

The delay will have a significant impact on console sales dynamics in 2026. Console sales will be even more back loaded in 2026 than is normal. Generally, in terms of launch timing and generating the most console sales, I think a release in Q4 is better than in Q2 due to the gifting season dynamic, so there is a silver lining to an extent.

“Could the late arrival of GTA 6 have an impact on when next-gen consoles come to market?”

Piers Harding-Rolls, Ampere Analysis

A question I’m thinking about more progressively is this: Could the late arrival of GTA 6 have an impact on when next-gen consoles come to market? As the game is such an important driver of hardware sales – not just at launch but over multiple years – Sony and Microsoft will have wanted a much earlier release than late 2026 so they could generate momentum earlier in the cycle.

We are currently forecasting a next-gen PlayStation and Xbox to arrive in late 2027 – but might the console companies be tempted to get more from the current console generation by riding the GTA 6 wave and waiting until 2028? The fact that games are now cross-gen makes this less of a factor, perhaps, but such is the size of the GTA franchise, the launch timing will get all areas of the games business thinking about their product strategies.

Stefano Petrullo (founder, Renaissance PR)

I’m expecting a significant reshuffle in the 2026 entertainment calendar (not just games) because of this delay. A lot of Q4 titles might now shift – either launching earlier (possibly with less polish) or later (potentially at the cost of revenue).

As for our own plans, this actually gives us a bit more breathing room around May/June. In a way, the delay could work in our favour. November is already notoriously crowded, and instead of having multiple AAA launches, we’ll now have one AAA title dominating the entire window – taking up all the oxygen, so to speak. Of course, the full impact will really depend on how other publishers react and where their titles land in the reshuffle.

In our pitch deck, we already have a GTA 6 slide to help manage expectations around coverage with all our clients to make sure we have contingency and creative ideas on how to tackle one of the biggest entertainment events of the last few years.

Alex Nichiporchik (CEO, TinyBuild)

The delay allows us to be much more flexible with Q2/Q3 launches. Let the AAAs fight it out in Q4.

Alex Donaldson (editor-at-large, Eurogamer; owner/founder, RPG Site)

My first immediate thought was relief that it is at least still in calendar 2026! Obviously, GTA is a huge beat for all of the media, and everybody is extremely excited for the content and traffic opportunities it’s going to bring. At the same time, I don’t think many games media have the luxury of planning so far ahead [as] next May at this stage – that sort of planning would’ve kicked off in the new year, so it’s not like we’re filing detailed plans into the shredder. Although I know a few members of our team are rethinking their holiday plans – suddenly, going away in May is more doable!

The main thing it gives me pause for thought on is not just the delay in the arrival of any GTA buzz or a GTA ‘bump’ for the media landscape, but the effect it will now have on the rest of next year. Rest assured, games will be moving back as a result of this – some holiday 2026 stuff is surely punting into 2027 now, and so on. Some of that we might find out about unofficially ‘on the grapevine,’ and some might remain a corporate secret, but in the end, all of that is going to deeply affect our workflow next year. I think about this more than most, as I split my time across multiple publications – and while GTA is crucial to some of them, to at least one it’s outside of coverage scope. So looking at 2026, a key mission is scouring for non-GTA opportunities.

There is one more major impact – the delay gave us a great chance to write more about GTA, which we otherwise wouldn’t have been doing to the same level this week. That’s good for traffic, starting interesting conversations with readers, and talking about the hard realities around game development – be that Rockstar’s recent layoffs, how long complex games take to make, or whatever else.

Henrique Olifiers (co-founder, Bossa Studios)

Like most of our peers in the industry, we monitor the release window of titles with the potential to command significant mobilisation from influencers and take outsized timeshare from players, GTA 6 being the biggest example of such a profile. Its delay into November 2026 opens up launch opportunities for some of our titles, thus there will be scheduling realignment taking place following the latest development from Rockstar.

Charlotte Willis (PR account director, Diva Agency)

It’s definitely affected things, that’s for sure! We’ve just seen the 2026 calendar rewritten overnight by one of the biggest, if not the biggest, game releases of recent years. We saw a similar domino effect, on a different scale, when Hollow Knight: Silksong’s release window shifted and other indies scrambled to find a new launch date. This GTA 6 delay is that same phenomenon, but magnified a thousand times, especially as competitors will have already reshuffled release dates in line with their last delay.

Our role right now is to partner with our clients, listen to their concerns, and advise where needed on this new landscape.

It’s crucial to remember that not every game is in direct competition. A client with a deep JRPG or a cosy farming sim has a fundamentally different audience to GTA 6, so their core fans will still be there for them, and their sales may not be totally impacted.

“That Q2 window Rockstar just vacated has suddenly become the most valuable real estate of the year”

Charlotte Willis, Diva Agency

However, we have to be realistic about press and creator priorities. The challenge for those games is instead the battle for ‘share of voice.’ GTA 6 will consume the majority of the oxygen in the room during Q4 2026. So now our job is to find the best ways for our clients to be heard before and after that noise.

But, to be optimistic for a moment, that Q2 window Rockstar just vacated has suddenly become the most valuable real estate of the year. This delay hasn’t just created a challenge, it’s also created a massive new opportunity for the right games to step in and own the first half of 2026 – if they’re ready to release then, that is. So we’re viewing it as more of a strategic reshuffle as opposed to a disaster. But in this industry of delays and shadow drops, we’re always alert to change and disruption, so it hasn’t totally blindsided us, it just might give us some GTMs [go-to-markets] to adjust.

Mario Wynands (CEO, PikPok)

The shuffling of release timings of various games caused by the previous GTA 6 delay and Silksong’s sudden release date drop have been interesting to observe, and it’s been interesting to try and unpack the pros and cons of releasing next to these monster games. The news is pretty fresh, but we do have something scheduled for release at that same time, so we have already started debating whether or not to change our plans.

Damien Sarrazin (CEO & founder, HomeRun PR)

The delay of GTA 6 inevitably reshapes the 2026 release landscape. For many of our clients, it opens up a valuable window – one that was previously seen as completely dominated by Rockstar’s marketing and media gravity. We will be revisiting launch timelines and campaign strategies in the next few weeks to take advantage of this breathing room. While GTA’s delay shifts attention, it also creates fresh opportunities for other titles to shine in a less-crowded spotlight.