Even if you were lucky enough to get a new console or games this Christmas, you’ve probably got your eye on some upcoming releases. And 2025 is shaping up to be a big one. Most agree that 2024 was a painful year for the games industry, with tens of thousands of layoffs and worldwide studio closures. There’s a hope that things will bounce back – at least in part – next year. And two huge releases in particular are likely to cut through in a big way.
A cultural moment, a day millions of gamers have been awaiting for a very, very long time. The release of Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6). It’s due to land in autumn, 12 years after prequel GTA 5 arrived on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, breaking launch records. The sequel already broke records with its first trailer, which racked up an astonishing 90 million views in 24 hours when it debuted last December. And that probably won’t be the last record that will be broken.
“The anticipation for this is impossible to measure,” says James Batchelor, editor-in-chief of GamesIndustry.biz. “It’s undoubtedly going to be one of, if not the biggest, game launches of all time.”
Developer Rockstar hasn’t revealed a huge amount about the new game beyond its dual protagonists and scenes from its fictional, Florida-inspired setting Leonida. The big question on most fans’ minds is whether the release date will slip, as has happened for previous big releases from Rockstar.
James says he’s seen nothing to suggest that it will – yet – but if things stay quiet it’s time to start worrying. “If we still have seen absolutely nothing by summer, and certainly if we’ve seen nothing of it by, say, end of August, then yeah, that’s going to 2026,” he says.
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