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I don't know if you've heard, but that highly anticipated indie release, GTA 6, is set to release later this year, and it's probably going to be pretty popular. The release of a new GTA is one of those few blockbuster events in the games industry, so it's no shock that other publishers are wary of releasing too close to GTA 6.
Blizzard's former president, Mike Ybarra, recently said that "everyone will move their release out of the way" when Rockstar eventually confirms GTA 6's release date. And from the sounds of what multiple developers have told The Game Business, it sounds like that's bang on. An anonymous source (described as "the boss of one of the world's biggest game publishers") said, "Rockstar games always suck a lot of money and, more importantly, time out of the market," adding: "We don't want to be anywhere near that. We are working up multiple different plans for our titles."
Another source (described as "a European boss of a AAA publisher") said the biggest issue facing publishers is if GTA 6 releases at the end of October or the beginning of November. "We don't want to launch just before or just after the game. If it arrives in late October, that means you either have to launch early – which a lot of people seem to be doing with the recent glut of summer release dates. Or go later, putting you up against the Black Friday sales."
The other problem facing studios is that if everyone is moving out of the way of GTA 6, that means there's even more competition alongside the incoming release or post-launch hype. One anonymous studio boss said, "GTA 6 is basically a huge meteor, and we will just stay clear of the blast zone," adding: "We will nudge our releases back or forward three weeks to avoid it. Of course, the problem is everyone is going to do the same. So three to four weeks before or after GTA 6, you're going to get a load of games dropping content in what they believe will be the safe zone."
GTA 5 launched in September 2013, within weeks of games like Rayman Legends and The Wonderful 101 – both games that are notable for flopping at launch (even if both are better than GTA 5). The Game Business notes that in the UK, over the game's first three weeks, it accounted for two thirds of all games sold – which is even more impressive when you realize FIFA 14 released in that timeframe.
