GTA 6 Delay Impacts PlayStation 6 and Xbox Next-Gen Conso...

PlayStation 6 Release Date Update Confirms GTA 6 Dominates All

Cal and Jason carrying bags and leaving a hanger in GTA 6

By Nicholas Becher Published 33 minutes ago Nicholas Becher is a gaming journalist with an MFA in Creative Writing from FAU. With extensive experience playing video games, he covers all forms of gaming content at Screen Rant, from breaking news to the latest fan theories. Most-played games range from Clair Obscur to Civ to Elden Ring to Halo 2 and beyond. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Grand Theft Auto 6 might be the most anticipated and hyped game of all time, but it's also giving fans serious whiplash after it received yet another release date delay a few weeks ago. GTA 6 being pushed back to November 2026 was a huge bummer for players, but the delay has much larger implications beyond that, potentially even affecting the launch of PlayStation and Xbox's next-gen consoles.

According to Piers Harding-Roll (via GamesIndustry.biz), a Gaming Research Director for Ampere Analysis, GTA 6's delay could mean that "console companies [will] be tempted to get more from the current console generation by riding the GTA 6 wave and waiting until 2028." He highlights the massive impact that GTA 6's release will have on the gaming industry writ large, claiming that "the launch timing will get all areas of the games business thinking about their product strategies."

GTA 6's Delay Is Having A Huge Impact

Both of Grand Theft Auto 6's two delays have already had a seismic impact on the gaming industry as a whole, not to mention for the millions of fans anticipating the game's eventual launch. It's easily the most rumor-heavy game in the conversation at the moment, with analysts, insiders, and fan theorists constantly speculating over what's happening development-wise behind the scenes at Rockstar, as well as what the game's launch date could mean in the bigger picture.

Ampere Analysis's Piers Harding-Roll suggests that the later release of GTA 6 in November 2026 could incentivize Xbox and PlayStation to postpone the release of their next-gen consoles in order to milk the current-gen launch for all it's worth. He notes that this theory might not hold up given cross-gen functionality, but certainly GTA 6's release will have some impact on Sony and Microsoft's plans for their next consoles.

The PlayStation 6 May Be Further Away Than We Thought

Ultimately, even if next-gen console launches are not impacted significantly by GTA 6's release date, there's no denying the massive impact the game will have on other game releases in 2026 and beyond. It raises concerns over the possibility of yet another delay as players' trust in Rockstar starts to wane in light of recent controversies, which include accusations of union busting.

If the analyst's predictions end up being accurate, PlayStation 6 and other future consoles are almost certainly not going to release in the anticipated late-2027 window that projections suggest is possible. Seeing as there hasn't been an official announcement of when Sony expects the PS6 to actually launch, it's hard to say if we'll ever know for sure how much impact Grand Theft Auto 6's delay will have or has had already.

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OpenCritic Reviews Released November, 2026 ESRB Rating Pending - Likely Mature 17+ Developer(s) Rockstar Games Publisher(s) Rockstar Games Engine Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) Multiplayer Online Multiplayer Prequel(s) Grand Theft Auto 5

Genre(s) Action, Adventure Powered by Expand Collapse

Gaming

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