Games to avoid GTA 6 in 2025 says Xbox exec – RockstarINTEL

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GTA 6 is the most anticipated video game of all time and it for sure is going to cause problems with other game releases. Fans have speculated what people within games companies are thinking but today we have heard from a higher-up about what GTA VI will do.

Spotted by Games Radar, one of the main decision makers in Microsoft’s game division just mentioned GTA 6’s release. Matt Booty who is Xbox president of gaming content and studios just took part in an interview with Variety. This comes off the back of Xbox’s impressive summer game showcase.

Xbox keeping options open

During Variety’s Strictly Business podcast and transcribed by Games Radar, Matt Booty gave an explanation as to why many of Xbox’s upcoming titles simply have a release year rather than a specific date and month.

The reasoning he gave is “I think many across the industry are of course going to plan around GTA 6, and we’re all looking forward to that game, which should be amazing”.

As we know, some games even move out of the way of Call of Duty still to this day and that is a yearly release. GTA VI will release around 12 years after the previous iteration that was GTA V. That game has now sold 200 million copies which no Call of Duty has come close to doing.

It’s no surprise games will be looking to avoid releasing near GTA VI given the magnitude of its impact. Some people only have limited time and money to spend on video games. GTA VI will be on the top of the list of games out next year for many people. There won’t be much room for others within that month or so it launches in.

Even 2026 games might not be safe

Rockstar Games previously gave us an open 2025 window but that has since been narrowed down to Fall 2025. Games releasing in the first 6-8 months of the year will be just fine. Though anything targeting September onwards will delay into 2026 if they feel like they’ll be eaten up by GTA VI.

Matt Booty continued in his Variety interview with “Certainly, everybody in the industry wants to make sure that we don’t land in the shadow of someone else’s big release, but we just need to keep options open.”

It will be very interesting to see which games move out of 2025 to avoid GTA VI. There’s also a world where GTA VI slips to early 2026. Some early 2026 titles may end up moving even further back or late 2025 games will want to maintain their current course.