Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has recently shared his positive outlook on the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto 6 , emphasizing the beneficial impact he believes the game will have on the broader gaming industry.
During Ubisoft’s third-quarter earnings call, Guillemot provided insights into how games like GTA 6 tend to attract more people to the industry, which in turn can boost sales for the other games in the industry. This perspective comes amid widespread anticipation for Rockstar Games’ next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, which is slated for a 2025 release.
Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, has confirmed GTA 6’s release window but it hasn’t specified an exact launch date. Guillemot, on the other hand, expects it to arrive “closer to our financial year ’26 than our financial year ’25,” implying a release from April 1, 2025 onwards. This timeframe aligns with Ubisoft’s fiscal year, suggesting that the gaming giant is planning its release schedule around GTA 6’s anticipated launch.
Guillemot’s comments highlight the cyclical nature of the gaming industry, where AAA titles can sometimes create waves that lift the fortunes of other titles and developers. “Each time there’s a big release like GTA, there are more and more people coming back to the industry, and that helps other games to sell as well,” Guillemot stated. He further mentioned that the French publisher has seen positive outcomes from organizing around the launch of previous GTA titles, citing the success of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag, which was released close to GTA 5 and sold over 11 million copies in just a few months.
The CEO’s optimism is not just based on past successes but also on a broader understanding of how flagship titles like GTA 6 can energize the gaming market. Guillemot’s strategy might involve leveraging the heightened attention and increased player engagement generated by GTA 6’s release to benefit Ubisoft’s own games. This approach indicates a recognition of the interconnectedness of the gaming ecosystem, where the success of one major title can have a ripple effect, boosting interest and sales across the industry instead of seeing competition as a bad thing.
Moreover, Take-Two’s focus on “seeking perfection” with GTA 6, as stated by Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, serves as a reminder of the high standards to which major titles are held. It’s this commitment to creative optimization before release that reflects a level of dedication to quality that resonates across the industry.
With that said, it’d be interesting if Ubisoft times the release of the rumored Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag remake with the launch of GTA 6 sometime later next year.
Nevertheless, the fan anticipation for GTA 6 is hard to deny, with the first trailer breaking and setting new internet records.
