A video game analyst believes that “not everyone” wants to play Grand Theft Auto 6 when it finally releases, and that the fear of releasing games near it has been “overblown.”
With the calendar moving quickly towards November 19, the long-awaited release of GTA 6 is getting closer and closer. Rockstar Games has ramped up its on-the-ground marketing in Miami, and it feels like everyone is waiting in anticipation to play the game.
There have been reports that more than 1.5 million people in the United States will take time off work to play the game upon release, leading to a $1 billion drop in productivity for the economy.
However, according to Mat Piscatella, Circana’s director of video games, “not everyone” wants to play the new game.
Analyst says a “whole bunch” of people won’t play GTA 6
Speaking to GamesBeat, Piscatella said: “GTA is going to be a massive game. Of course it is. It’s going to be a huge cultural event, but not every one of the 49 million people who own a PS5 or an Xbox Series in the U.S. is going to be interested in that.”
He noted that there is a “whole bunch of people who are going to want to play other things,” pointing to the likes of Fortnite and Roblox as alternatives.
Rockstar GamesThe analyst also believes that the fear of releasing games in the orbit of GTA 6 is “completely overblown,” adding that it feels “more irrational than rational” to avoid the game.
“Everyone’s just scared. I guess I get it, but I just think it’s completely overblown. But hey, it’s given GTA a completely wide-open window because everyone else moved. We’ll see what happens,” he added.
As it stands, for notable releases, the Ocarina of Time remake is dropping on November 5, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 also launched at the end of October.
Activision’s Chief Marketing Officer, Tyler Bahl, told The Games Business that GTA’s release could help MW4 as people will be “taking the dust off their Xbox or PlayStation and playing again.”
Rockstar has also promised that their next game won’t take as long as GTA 6 has, but there are still questions around GTA Online’s follow-up and the PC release of the new game too.
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
