The release of Grand Theft Auto VI has the gaming industry in stitches, with 2025 schedules already being affected

Rockstar Games' popular game Grand Theft Auto V (GTAV) is the second best-selling game in the world after Minecraft, and its sales are estimated to exceed the total sales of the entire Final Fantasy series. With the release of the successor to GTAV, Grand Theft Auto VI (GTAVI), scheduled for 2025, the game industry is being forced to make difficult schedule adjustments, according to Bloomberg, an overseas media outlet.

Please note that this article contains unreleased information about GTA VI, so please be careful if you are concerned about spoilers.

'GTA 6' Release Date Will Decide Much of the 2025 Game Calendar - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-09/-gta-6-release-date-will-decide-much-of-the-2025-game-calendar

Leaked GTA 6 map size dwarfs GTA 5 as YouTuber pieces evidence together - Dexerto
https://www.dexerto.com/gta/leaked-gta-6-map-size-dwarfs-gta-5-as-youtuber-pieces-evidence-together-3001780/

There is little information about GTA VI other than that it will be released in the fall of 2025 and that the main characters will be a man and a woman inspired by real-life criminals Bonnie and Clyde . However, the first trailer movie has been played more than 200 million times at the time of writing, attracting a lot of attention.

Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 1 - YouTube


As this is a major work that is expected to be the biggest title not only of 2025 but of the decade, some game publishers are refraining from announcing new release schedules so as not to clash with the release of GTA VI.

'Game publishers are waiting to see whether GTA VI can meet the fall 2025 deadline or whether it will be delayed into 2026, and then they're deciding to push their own games as far away from the release date as possible,' said a source who spoke to Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Even if the game goes ahead as planned, fans of the GTA series are hungry for information about the new title, and some are even going so far as to try and find out how much volume GTA VI will have.

For example, YouTube channel Dark Space recreated a map from previously leaked GTA VI information and compared it to its predecessor, finding that GTA VI's map could be nearly twice as large as GTAV's.

I made GTA 6 Before GTA 6 - YouTube


According to Dark Space, it takes about three and a half minutes to fly from the southernmost to northernmost ends of the GTA V map by helicopter, compared to just over six minutes it takes to traverse the GTA V map.

'The map is bigger and has more diverse locations,' Dark Space said. 'There's a bigger city than before, and several other cities. There's a huge lake in the middle and a swamp to the south.'

Those hoping to get more info on GTA VI without relying on leaks may not have to wait too long: Rockstar Games' YouTube channel reportedly unpinned the first trailer, leading GTA fans to speculate that the second trailer is coming soon.

Game news site Dexerto said, 'Since the announcement trailer was released in December 2023, Rockstar Games has kept quiet about any details about the game, and fans are starting to get mad because there has been no news for a year except for a few leaks from insiders.'