GTA 6’s release could lead to Marvel’s Wolverine being delayed, says ex-Rockstar animator
Former Rockstar Games and Grand Theft Auto V animator Mike York has told Esports Bets that rival publishers will have to delay their own release dates to avoid clashing with GTA 6’s scheduled release later this year, including Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Wolverine.
“Marvel’s Wolverine is due to come out in 2026 and could definitely be impacted by GTA 6’s release. It’s a massive game so that could well be pushed back further than its scheduled Fall 2026 release date,” York said. “I can see a lot of publishers delaying their own release dates for new games this year to avoid direct competition with GTA 6, if it is to be released in November 2026, especially if it’s a big release.
“The smaller games won’t be as much competition but if you’re bringing out a bigger game, like say a Call of Duty release or if Ubisoft were coming out with a new title, if they can hold off on it, then they will. They’ll postpone their releases because GTA 6 is so big that when it comes out, everybody will stop playing what they are playing and move onto GTA 6.
“It doesn’t matter what game it is, Naughty Dog could be releasing the next Intergalactic game but GTA would supersede it. The massive companies will know that and so it’s beneficial for them to hold off.”
GTA 6’s delays will be causing rival publishers major headaches
“GTA 6’s delay has gone on for so long now that rival publishers will want the game to come out sooner rather than later so that the hype can finally die down,” York said.
“They’ll be thinking, ‘GTA 6, hurry up, can you release it already…’ As it’s beneficial to them so that they can then bring their own games out and not delay those further as well, which will cost them more in the process by paying for the extension of delaying.
“That’s what’s happening to a lot of companies now – every time GTA 6 gets delayed, a lot of other games are then delayed again, so the latest news on GTA 6 really shifts everything globally in the video game industry in terms of release dates.”
GTA 6 Online could leave rival free-to-play games in ‘big trouble’
“Free-to-play games like Call of Duty: Warzone could be in big trouble when the GTA Online version of GTA 6 comes out,” York said. “If Rockstar release an online mode that’s like ARC Raiders, had a very similar game loop to ARC Raiders and was fun to play but you were in the GTA Online realm, then that would be a huge hit.
“If they created some kind of extractions shooter, that blended in, and a bunch of streamers started playing, then that could take over. They’d just need a simple game mode, like a battle royale mode, and then Call of Duty is whacked overnight because millions of people have flocked over to GTA.
“If they create an innovative game mode it really could rip people away from those other free-to-play games. If you think about it, GTA Online is this big mash-up of stuff to do with different game modes and that’s exactly where they could place it – just like Fortnite does with all of these different game modes. They could do that if they wanted to and test it – the pay-off would be huge.”
