Analyst: GTA VI release fears overblown as developers delay games to avoid competition

NicoGG October 29, 2026 0 comments 3 min read

Circana analyst Mat Piscatella says developer fears regarding GTA VI's release window are overblown, noting that niche genres like cozy games remain safe.

The launch of Grand Theft Auto VI by Rockstar Games in the coming November has caused a real frenzy in the gaming industry. Many developers have postponed the release of their products to avoid direct competition with the expected game. The rescheduling illustrates that the release of the game will be on an impressive scale. And it can affect the market of the holidays.

Circana analyst says niche genres face no threat from Rockstar's November launch

The rescheduling of game releases is caused by a certain fear of developers. After all, many people are afraid to compete with GTA VI. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella responded to this.

He said that the fears of many developers who plan to release their products at the same time as GTA VI are absolutely exaggerated. He said that GTA is definitely a huge game, but that it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to dominate other genres. Moreover, he added "We haven't seen a game this big… literally in 13 years!" to stress that such a big game happens very rarely.

To confirm the adequacy of the market, Piscatella provided some data. He said that we have 49 million PS5 and Xbox Series owners in the US, but not all of them will play GTA VI. There are also other audiences, for example, on Nintendo Switch and PCs.

That reduces the direct competition in the types of games. In other words, the market may be bigger than the number of consoles.

According to his analysis, he recommends that the developers of cozy games, life sims, and FPS games don't need to be afraid of the release of Rockstar's new game. This means that the mentioned genres are aimed at different audiences, so there's no such competition as with open-world action games. Developers of such projects probably don't need to change anything. They don't need to be afraid of a serious loss in the visibility or drop in the sales because of the release window of GTA VI.

We know that Grand Theft Auto VI will be released in November. And the main market for the game is the US. But the industry doesn't cancel the release.

It simply changes the release dates. And it means that the developers are sure that there are different audiences for various genres. Analysts say that the developers of some niche products shouldn't be afraid.

They can be calm. Because there's a difference between the interests of gamers when it comes to big open world games or some simulation or shooter game.