A reader is increasingly pessimistic about not just the release date of GTA 6 but Rockstar Games’ attitude towards its fans.
It’s going to be March by the time you read this, if this feature gets used, and that means it’s 15 months since the last, and indeed first, GTA 6 trailer. Take-Two, who own Rockstar Games, keep saying that the game is going to be out this year but we’ve heard absolutely nothing about it since December 2023 and we have no idea when it’s out or when the next trailer is.
In an industry where almost everything leaks out months ahead of time there haven’t even been any serious leaks, so it’s impossible to even guess what’s going on. The line has gone dead and the only thing we get is Take-Two telling their investors that there hasn’t been a delay. But I don’t believe them.
They can say whatever they want now, and then just delay it anyway and say something changed, so there is absolutely nothing right now to make you believe the game is going to be released on time.
I’m not all that upset if the game has been delayed till next year. We’ve waited this long, so another year isn’t going to be the end of the world. After all, nobody wants another Cyberpunk 2077 launch fiasco. What I object to though is the lack of information and the glee that Rockstar seems to take in saying nothing and leaving everyone wondering.
Maybe I’m being entitled, I get that they don’t have to tell us anything, but the vibe I get from Rockstar at the moment is pure Sony style arrogance and I don’t think it’s any coincidence that they’re also known for saying as little as possible recently – and I don’t think they’re exactly loved for that.
Why can Rockstar not just say we’ll have a new update/new trailer on such and such a date, or even just a month, and then we’d know exactly where we stand. I get that they might not be able to give a release date at the moment, because they’re not exactly sure when it will be finished, but they can tell us when the next trailer is. It’s not like you have to finish the game to finish a trailer.
I just feel Take-Two are saying it’s not delayed so their share price won’t fall and then in the next few months we’ll get a single tweet saying it’s delayed until 2026, because of reasons. Maybe we’ll get a second trailer with a mic drop of a 2026 release date but even that seems too optimistic at this point.
I’ve seen other people discuss it before, but I feel there is now a breakdown in terms of not just communication between publishers and fans but trust too. It’s increasingly obvious that we’re just mobile wallets to them and the idea that any of them are doing this because they like games, and want to make some cool ones, is beginning to seem naïve and old fashioned.
It’s increasingly obvious that they’re purposefully telling us as little as possible before a game is released and the only reason we get even that is because they want our pre-orders. If this second trailer doesn’t show some actual gameplay footage, and is just more pre-fabricated footage, it’s not even going to be worth the wait.
I’m not going to pretend to you I won’t buy GTA 6 anyway but my estimation of Rockstar has already fallen and I certainly won’t be giving them the benefit of a pre-order.
By reader Stanbee
The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
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