Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra reckons Rockstar has the singular privilege of being able to release GTA 6 whenever it wants because every other publisher will move their releases around to avoid its shadow.
Publishers regularly shift around release dates to avoid clashing with other big releases, but Ybarra says GTA 6 is such a behemoth that Rockstar isn’t one bit concerned about other games stealing the spotlight.
In response to an IGN article speculating about GTA 6’s potential release date in the context of Borderlands 4’s recently announced September 23 launch, Ybarra said:
“GTA6 is the king. They don’t care who announces what. Everyone will move their release out of the way whenever they announce the ship date for GTA6. It is really the only game that has the power to do this today.”
GTA6 is the king. They don’t care who announces what. Everyone will move their release out of the way whenever they announce the ship date for GTA6.It is really the only game that has the power to do this today. https://t.co/GVYyxi7xRYFebruary 13, 2025
Ybarra doubled down in response to a tweet arguing it would be advantageous for both Rockstar and Gearbox to avoid releasing games too close to each other. “[Borderlands 4] doesn’t matter,” he said. “[Rockstar] is controlled by no one, including their publisher.”
Adding to that, Ybarra said “in some ways [Borderlands] needs to be 6+ months away from it or it’s dead.” Jeez, Borderlands 4 is catching some serious strays.
GTA 6 has yet to set a firm release date, but Rockstar parent company Take-Two recently assured fans it’s still on track to launch this Fall despite the ever-present risk of “slippage.”
Ybarra agreed with a commenter that an October release date is likely and predicted a PC port around June to “give it space.”
Rockstar Games seeks perfection in everything they do”: Take-Two boss is confident in GTA 6, but “our competitors are not asleep.”
