This has been a big week forGrand Theft Auto 6. After a widely expecteddelay, pushing the game from 2025 to May 26th, 2026, we saw the surprise release of anew trailer.
Naturally, the internet is ablaze with hundreds, if not thousands, of people analyzing every little detail from that trailer, but there’s still the question about what this new release date means for the industry.
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Before the GTA 6 delay was announced, we had already seen gamesshuffle around their release dates. However, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford is adamant thatBorderlands 4was moved up due to developer confidence, not to avoid releasing alongside the new Grand Theft Auto.
Regardless, it’s been something the industry has been talking about for quite some time: how do publishers approach the release window surrounding GTA 6, which is now May 26th, 2026.
While many have speculated how it’s affecting things, one iconic video game developer has confirmed that it’s altered their plans.
Hideo Kojima Confirmed That Publishers Were Avoiding The Grand Theft Auto 6 Release Window
According to a report byGenki_JPN,Hideo Kojima, who is currently working onDeath Stranding 2, acknowledged that publishers were doing their best to avoid the GTA 6 release window.
“Some are saying GTA may or may not release in November,” he said, admittedly before the game was delayed. “As soon as it would be announced for November, everyone would move out of they way.”
Kojima compares this to how movie studios do their best to avoid releasing films alongside major blockbusters. “For instance, if a new Mission Impossible movie were to release in May, others wouldn’t be able to compete with that so would move somewhere else.”
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His example is something the movie industry has done quite often. I remember when The Dark Knight came out, it had zero competition from any other movies that weekend. It’s something that made the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon so special. Seeing two highly anticipated movies release on the same day is a rarity. The issue, though, is that it’s easy for movies to get away with this as they require a handful of hours to enjoy. Video games, especially something like Grand Theft Auto 6, will take hundreds of hours to complete, so publishers want to make sure their audience has enough time and money to spend on their games.
We’ll see how the industry reacts to Grand Theft Auto 6 moving out in 2025 and how publishers plan to set up their Spring/Summer 2026 release window.
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