The past year also saw the announcement of Valve's newest Steam Machine, the industry's first $80 game in decades from an unexpected source, EA announcing a take-private deal with Saudi Arabia, the retirement of a longtime Nintendo executive, Microsoft putting its games on rival platforms, the return of Game Informer magazine, and a voice-actor strike. Beyond big news and announcements, 2025 saw a continuation of trends from previous years, including ongoing mass layoffs, along with consumer behavior continuing to shift away from buying new games.
While the release of Rockstar Games' upcoming open-world crime game was recently delayed again, leaving many fans of the franchise disappointed, the game developer has now scheduled its launch for November next year, shifting the same from May 2026. However, Rockstar Games has managed to keep GTA 6 alive in conversations by dropping multiple teasers and trailers online. Moreover, the leaked footage of the game has also made a notable contribution in fuelling the expectations of gamers.
While Rockstar Games, the GTA 6 developer, has been dropping teasers of its upcoming open-world game, showing various cut scenes, teasing the storyline, the company is seemingly ironing out some wrinkles to avoid a Cyberpunk 2077-like disaster. The last GTA instalment, Grand Theft Auto V, was released back in 2013, meaning it's been over 13 years since it was available to gamers. With GTA 6 now scheduled to release on November 19, 2026, the video game is still alive in public discourse,
One clip shows a male character detach a "LomBike"--likely a parody of the IRL LimeBike rental service--from its docking station, turn it around, and sit on it. Seconds later, that same character returns the bike to its dock. The other two clips show a female character getting off a pick-up truck in two different ways. In the first, she swings her legs out from inside the bed and jumps down.
I don't think it's a rising tide that floats all boats. I think that [there will] be a tremendous amount of backlash if everyone switched to $100. Not all games are created equal. I think GTA is the only one that can get away with it, and I hope they do. I really hope it's $100. I think it deserves to be $100. The scope and magnitude of this production deserves that price tag, but not everything is treated equally. It would be a disaster if everyone tried to match them.
Rockstar's subscription service, GTA+, continues to expand. The developer has added a new game to the library, and it's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - The Definitive Edition. Members can get the game for iOS and Android right now. It was already available for subscribers for console and PC. Access to a library of free games is one of the perks of GTA+.
Tez2 said in the GTA forums that they recently came across website domains registered on May 27 under Rockstar owner Take-Two that appear to be related to GTA 6. The domains are for things like "what-up.app," "Rydeme.app," and "hookers-galore.com," along with "myboyhasacreepycorndog.com" and "leonidagov.org." People are theorizing that these are domains related to in-game websites. None of them are currently online and available to visit, but some believe they will eventually redirect to the main GTA 6 website.
Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto VI stands alone as a "AAAAA" game, according to Devolver Digital co-founder Nigel Lowrie. "I mean, there are AAA games and then there's AAAA games and I'd argue that Grand Theft Auto is potentially the AAAAA game; it's just bigger than anything else both in the scope and scale of the game and the kind of cultural impact that it has and the attention it demands," Lowrie told IGN.
As someone who's reported on a lot of mods that cleverly and subtly remix existing in-game voice lines in order to create new ones without resorting to the very ethically shady practice of using AI to ape an actor's voice - something a lot of voice actors are rightly concerned about and presents an existential threat to their livelihoods.
Mike York highlights that the new trailer for GTA 6 showcases an impressive leap in detail and lighting, possibly contributing to the game's delay.