The launch of Grand Theft Auto VI later this year–assuming it’s not delayed–is poised to be a major moment in the world of video games. According to PlayStation higher-up Greg Rice, who heads up the company’s independent games outreach program, GTA 6 will be a huge success that won’t necessarily negatively impact smaller games.
“[GTA 6 is] going to be the best, awesome, giant game for the year, for sure,” Rice told GamesRadar. “I hear a lot of the opposite of devs, worried about it sucking all the space out. ‘I don’t want to launch during GTA week or even month, because that’s all anyone’s gonna be playing.'”
Rice believes GTA 6 will be a smashing success–because of course it will–and he also believes the video game industry has matured enough to allow for other, potentially smaller games to flourish at the same time. “It’s gonna be a combination of ‘there will be games that will be successful around GTA time because they’re totally different,’ but it’ll also bring a lot more people back into the ecosystem,” he said.
Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA VI) Trailer Breakdown
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Rice believes that GTA 6 being such a massive game will bring new or lapsed players to console gaming, and, as they say, a rising tide lifts all ships.
“I’m sure there’s lots of gamers that [GTA 6 will be] the only thing they play,” Rice said. “It’ll be the opportunity to get in on the new console generation and see what else is out there. So it’s definitely gonna be a big economic boost for the games industry, and will be a multiple billion-dollar title, but I don’t think that it’s at competition with [indie games].”
GTA 6 is set for release in Fall 2025 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, but Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick has said he cannot rule out a delay. The video game industry hasn’t been growing at the level some had expected in recent years following a pandemic-level boom, but the launch of GTA 6 and Switch 2 in 2025 could help turn things around.
GTA 6’s first trailer debuted in December 2023, and in the 15+ months since then, Rockstar has not uttered a word about the game, and Take-Two has only spoken about it at the highest level. Fans are eagerly awaiting any more news and a trailer, but as of yet, there is no word when that might happen.