GTA 6 Delay Might Push Back New Consoles

Grand Theft Auto 6 getting pushed to November 19, 2026 is already a big blow for fans, but one analyst thinks it could also affect when Sony and Microsoft release their next consoles.

Rockstar announced the new date on November 6 and said the delay will help them finish the game with the level of polish players expect. This is already the second delay, and the studio admitted the wait has felt long.

Analysts Think GTA 6 May Change Consoles 

The news also came shortly after Rockstar reportedly laid off 30 to 40 employees in the UK and Canada, which had some developers worried another delay was coming.

Piers Harding Rolls from Ampere is now wondering if the later GTA 6 launch might also push back the PlayStation 6 and the next Xbox.

He told GamesIndustry.biz that GTA 6 is such a major system seller that both Sony and Microsoft probably wanted it much earlier to help build momentum.

Ampere’s current prediction is late 2027 for both consoles, but he questioned whether the companies might try to squeeze more out of this generation and ride the GTA 6 hype into 2028 instead.

He added that cross gen games reduce the impact a bit, but a franchise as big as GTA still influences release strategies across the whole industry.

Consoles are still where most GTA players are, even though PC usually gets the game about a year later.

Microsoft has already started teasing its next console as a “premium” device, while Sony hasn’t said anything about the PS6 yet. So the true impact of the delay is still up in the air.