A new prediction has been made regarding the release date of GTA 6 on PS5 and Xbox Series X. It comes from an analyst and isn’t something that will be seen as an official announcement by developers Rockstar Games. But it is based on information shared by the country and is definitely worth a look for Grand Theft Auto gamers wanting to know more about the next release. Recent analyst predictions have put the launch of GTA 6 during 2021 at the earliest, making it unlikely to be ported to PS4 and Xbox One.
But this latest information goes beyond that, predicting that the next Grand Theft Auto game won’t be launched until 2022, or the year after.
A note from Stephens analyst Jeff Cohen reveals to investors that Take-Two Interactive’s – Rockstar Games’ parent company – annual 10-K filing in May showed a large jump in marketing support commitments.
This would happen during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, and reveals that Take-Two is providing around $89.3 million in marketing support.
This would make it the most support provided for its products through fiscal 2025, with the next largest noted for fiscal 2023’s $40.9 million.
The note shared by VentureBeat adds: “We are not sure how much we should be reading into this shift, but we would note that this disclosure accurately predicted the launch of Red Dead Redemption 2 prior to that game’s announcement.
“[Take-Two management] has spoken very confidently about the pipeline over the next five years and existing live services execution has been excellent.
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“However, the timing of the next Grand Theft Auto remains top-of-mind for investors, particularly with the stock near all-time-highs.”
This does make a case for something being planned for between April 2023 and March 2024 that would require a large marketing commitment.
And GTA 6 would certainly fill that role. And while this could prove to be disappointing news for fans waiting on its release, it’s good news for current-gen gamers.
If Rockstar is planning on waiting until 2023 to release its next major game, it would make sense for GTA Online support to continue for at least the next 18-months, if not more.
And with the popular multiplayer mode providing so much concurrent spending, it would need more free content and fresh updates to keep gamers interested.
There are now long periods between big launches in GTA Online but that would still mean at least three more major updates could be planned.
Rockstar is now working with some pretty dated tech so it will be interesting to see exactly what they could produce to keep gamers entertained.
Online Heists remain popular and it wouldn’t be surprising to find out that more were being planned.
There are also rumours swirling regarding what could be coming next, with news expected from the development team in the coming weeks.
But while a GTA 6 release date set for 2023 is believable at this point, GamesIndustry.biz makes some interesting counter-arguments.
These include referencing Take-Two’s earlier 10-K reports, which don’t show a similar spike in marketing commitments leading up to the release of Grand Theft Auto V.
They also note that previous Take-Two 10-K marketing commitments “primarily reflect our agreements with major sports leagues and players’ associations.”
And this would fit in with the recently announced NFL deal, with the first game from that agreement scheduled to launch in fiscal 2022.
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