Players were waiting for GTA 6 for May 2026, but you will ultimately have to wait until November. This new postponement, far from being trivial, could have much broader consequences than a simple release delay. According to Piers Harding-Rolls, director of video games research at Ampere Analytics, the impact of the title would be such that Sony and Microsoft would seriously consider postponing the release of their future consoles, initially planned for the end of 2027.
Rockstar Games didn’t just postpone its most anticipated game: it potentially shook the agenda of an entire industry. GTA 6, now set for release in November 2026, could become a sales catalyst to such an extent that it would influence the launch strategy of the PS6 and Xbox Next. A domino effect that few expected.
GTA 6, cash machine too powerful to ignore
The main argument put forward by the analyst is based on the extraordinary commercial potential of GTA 6. According to him, “Grand Theft Auto 6 will have a significant impact on console sales in 2026”. He believes that the giants of the sector may want to further maximize the performance of the current generation of consoles, by postponing the marketing of their new models by one year.
In other words, the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S could benefit from a reprieve at the end of their life, driven by the appeal of the juggernaut signed Rockstar. “Sony and Microsoft could be tempted to make the current generation of consoles more profitable,” analyzes Harding-Rolls. A strategy that would make sense, especially after a difficult year for Xbox, marked by a fall in console revenues.
Short-term profitability or long-term launch?
The reasoning may be surprising at first. After all, GTA 6 will be released a year before the new consoles, giving players plenty of time to enjoy it. But according to the analyst, “the game is big enough to drive console sales for years after launch.” In other words, even after November 2026, sales of current PS5 and Xbox could continue to climb, boosted by the success of the game.
Sony, for its part, has already indicated that the PS5 is “midway through its life cycle”, which supports the idea of strategic continuity. At Xbox, rumor has it that the next generation will be expensive to produce. Enough to reinforce the idea of maximizing the current generation before initiating a transition.
Should we therefore note this postponement? Not so fast. Harding-Rolls tempers: “A postponement of the console release is not guaranteed, but it could be considered.” The game industry remains cautious, but the simple fact that this hypothesis is on the table today says a lot about the weight of GTA 6.