If there’s an enormous winner in the wake of the delay of Grand Theft Auto 6 from Could 26, 2026 to November 19, 2026, it’s 007 First Light.
In September final yr IO Interactive, the Danish developer of the Hitman video games, had slapped James Bond motion journey 007 First Light with a March 27, 2026 launch date — simply two months forward of the launch of GTA 6 earlier than Rockstar introduced its delay to November.
Two months can be, beneath regular circumstances, loads of room for 2 video video games to breathe, however that is GTA 6 we’re speaking about. It seems set to develop into not solely the greatest online game launch of all time, however the greatest… something launch of all time. You might see a state of affairs the place the wider gaming public would possibly save their hard-earned money for GTA 6, even when they fairly like the look of the promising 007 First Light — particularly with hypothesis that Rockstar may find yourself charging much more than $70 for it.
And so, two months was actually shut sufficient for 007 to be caught up in the gravitational pull of Rockstar’s behemoth, so large an impression it can absolutely have on the online game area. Not even James Bond in a souped-up Aston Martin would have a lot of an opportunity of breaking free.
GTA 6 Vice Metropolis Screenshots
And it feels like the builders at IO Interactive knew that every one too properly. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, CEO Hakan Abrak was requested about GTA 6 kindly getting out of 007’s method.
“It could be a lie to not say that clearly spring seems actually good,” he replied. “I need to say in the identical breath that GTA 6 is a welcome factor for the business. I do consider loads of players who perhaps have not performed for some time will get into issues once more, and usually for the business as a complete, I feel that might be superb.”
Abrak’s feedback about the constructive impression of GTA 6 echo these of Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, who has instructed the recreation’s launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Sequence X and S (sorry PC players, no launch for you… for now) will spark a surge in console gross sales. Such is the would possibly of GTA 6 that it’s going to little question persuade a military of players to lastly improve from the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One to the current-gen, or push PC players over the edge to allow them to get in on the enjoyable at launch.
And let’s not neglect Star Wars film The Mandalorian and Grogu, which was set to come back out in the identical week as GTA 6. Sure, GTA 6 will in all probability hit all types of leisure onerous as the world dives into the subsequent iteration of Vice Metropolis. The Drive be damned.
However whereas there are winners in all this, there are losers, too — one thing we at IGN have regarded into following the GTA 6 delay. Microsoft has a raft of video games due out subsequent yr that will find yourself hit onerous by GTA 6, equivalent to the subsequent Fable, Halo: Marketing campaign Developed, Gears of Struggle E-Day, and even 2026’s Name of Responsibility. However Sony might be shifting nervously at the prospect of Insomniac’s PlayStation 5 unique, Marvel’s Wolverine, getting absorbed by the GTA 6 impact, too.
All the whereas, James Bond himself is off having a celebratory vodka martini, “shaken, not stirred” in fact. With GTA 6 out the image, the world well-known undercover agent has a transparent run to success.
Wesley is Director, Information at IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You possibly can attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.