With GTA 6 delayed to 2026, prepare for this year's floodgates to burst as publishers scramble to fill the empty space left by their biggest fear

If you've recently asked a monkey's paw for a Grand Theft Auto 6 release date, could I kindly ask that you spare us all from your remaining two wishes? Rockstar has finally confirmed a launch date for its upcoming crime caper, but here's the catch: it's releasing on May 26, 2026 – missing out on GTA 6's long-promised 2025 window.

As disappointing as the delay is, the writing has been on the wall. Rockstar's been radio silent even while 2024's months have trickled away, while parent company Take-Two had no issue penciling in Borderlands 4 to launch around the time that half the games industry assumed GTA 6 would be releasing. Given we've only just entered May of this year, the wait ahead is looking excruciating – but for many publishers and developers, the bogeyman has just left.

Open waters

Take a glance at our list of video game release dates for 2025, and you'll notice a pattern: there, er, aren't actually that many of them from July onward. Some of that can be attributed to the fact that Summer Game Fest, which has fast become a prime time to announce release dates, doesn't take place for another month. But a larger factor is that publishers have been scared to pit their darlings against GTA 6, which is guaranteed to eclipse anything unfortunate enough to launch in its shadow. The next Grand Theft Auto is, for those who pick up one or two releases at most each year, the upcoming game. For publishers and developers, the safest course of action is to be nowhere near the blast zone whenever it drops.

Now, everything has changed. Not only does GTA 6 have a release date that publishers can safely plan around, but it's not even launching this year. The coveted September to December window – lucrative for its run-up to the holidays – is wide open, with just a few months' notice. With the Switch 2 launching well before that period, it's open season. Those months currently look like a ghost town, but given the frankly ludicrous amount of big hitters with vague promises of launching in 2025, expect to see that fill out at lightning speed.

Need a refresher? Hollow Knight: Silksong is finally set to launch this year, while Xbox is yet to lock in dates for both Gears of War: E-Day and The Outer Worlds 2. Even Nintendo – the only company that could maybe take GTA 6's meteoric launch on the chin – has kept release dates for Pokemon Legends Z-A and Metroid Prime 4 under wraps. There are more (so many more), but you get the point.

As a result, expect to see a collective releasing of held breath. I would be shocked if the last quarter of 2024 didn't look fit to burst by the end of June, to the point where smaller studios may choose to avoid the feeding frenzy of AAA releases and instead save their titles for the first months of 2026. Consider the fact that Summer Game Fest may reveal even more titles launching this year, and we'll likely be playing every game but GTA 6 by Christmas.

Publishers will already be scrambling to fill that void, and I can only imagine the migraines brewing across the industry's various board rooms today. But there's another upshot of all this, and one I'm far more excited by: Game of the Year is back on the menu! The sheer hype surrounding GTA 6, along with the frankly wild expectations it carries – in part because we know so little about it – has meant that many people have been reserving the award for a game we haven't actually seen in action yet.

Now, the playing field is open. I spent the first months of 2025 wondering if Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 could have nabbed GOTY if it didn't have to go against Rockstar (it remains my personal pick), and now I won't have to wonder. Sandfall Interactive is likely throwing a party over Rockstar's announcement – our own glowing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 review is just one of many. The Blue Prince missionaries are out in force (I've installed it, leave me be!), while AAA titans like Avowed, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Assassin's Creed Shadows were all delights. That's not even counting presumed contenders yet to come. I promise I'm not trying to throw games at you, but Mario Kart World? Ghost of Yotei? It's hard to undersell just how unpredictable 2025 is about to become.

As a gremlin who thrives on chaos, I'm looking at all of this and rubbing my hands. That said, I do feel for every sunken heart still grappling with GTA 6's delay. Even as someone who prefers Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption side over Grand Theft Auto, the prospect of waiting another year is agonizing. But if it's any consolation, Rockstar's bowing out has sparked one of the wildest years in gaming history, and it's sure to be entertaining if nothing else. Elvis has left the building – best of luck to whoever's on stage next.

Check out our GTA 6 wishlist for everything we want to see make it in the game