Grand Theft Auto VI Delay Steals the Thrills From Video Game Industry

The Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, known for its open world crime capers, detoured into spiritual theft on Friday, stealing the hopes of gamers jonesing to terrorize the denizens of an imagined city in its next installment before the end of the year.

Take-Two Interactive, the gaming giant that was set to release the series’ sixth installment in the second half of 2025, announced GTA VI will now be launched in 2026. It’s a major blow to the video game industry, which is still reeling from a downturn last year.

Hairpin Curveball

The gaming industry has slipped like a Mario Kart driver on a banana peel. There have been 2,100 layoffs so far in 2025 after more than 14,000 last year, according to one industry tracker. But last month, Newzoo analysts forecasted that the much-heralded one-two punch of GTA VI and Nintendo’s Switch 2 console, the latter set for a June release, would help lift global console software revenues by 10% in 2025 to $47.3 billion, a year after sales fell 4% due to fewer hit games and no major console releases. The GTA pause leaves a giant hole in those calculations.

GTA VI, which is being developed by Take-Two subsidiary Rockstar Games, is unlike other gaming franchises in that it’s as culturally ubiquitous, if not more so, than any film or music phenomenon. A trailer released in 2023 has been viewed on YouTube more than 250 million times while economic estimates and surveys suggest that, even if you won’t be lining up to buy it on day one, someone in your life will be:

• Analysts at DCI Intelligence forecast that GTA VI will make $3.2 billion in revenue in the 12 months after its release, double what its 2013 predecessor made in the same amount of time (GTA V has made more than $8 billion overall). By comparison, last year’s biggest film, Inside Out 2, grossed $1.7 billion and the year before, Barbie grossed $1.4 billion — and losing that potential economic activity this year will impact tech giants Sony and Microsoft, whose PS5 and Xbox Series X/S will play home to GTA VI’s debut.
• One truly wild data point: Raymond James analysts said in a note last week that they surveyed 500 American men ages 18 to 40 and over 75% of them said they plan on buying GTA VI.

Braking Hard: Investors, like gamers — or maybe investors who are gamers? — were not pleased with the news, as Take-Two shares tumbled 6.6% to $219.50 on Friday. But that might simply mean the opportunity for a steal befitting GTA VI: Raymond James remains bullish on the stock, since the delay suggests there’s $3.2 billion in revenue waiting in May 2026. With a $240 price target, it is one of many firms with a positive outlook on the stock, which maintains a consensus buy rating from Wall Street, with an average target of $243, according to analyst ratings aggregated by Benziga.