The collective industry is bracing itself for the launch of GTA 6 in November. It’s going to be tectonic, and soak up a lot of people’s attention for some time afterward. Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Studios is remarkably calm about Rockstar’s oncoming storm, mostly because of the crime sandbox’s staggered rollout.
“Rockstar makes ridiculous, high-effort stuff and it’s awesome that games like this get made,” Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani says in a statement. “On a selfish level I’m happy it’s not hitting PC right away, and that online isn’t dropping at launch.”
We actually don’t know for certain what (if any) online features GTA 6 will sport at launch, but Rockstar has certainly hinted that it’ll be a single-player-focused game, at least at first. GTA Online notably did not launch until a few weeks after GTA 5.
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Either way, these factors offer some breathing room for Jorjani’s game about smooshing bugs and dismantling cyborgs in an unending space war. “It means Helldivers 2 gets to keep crushing it in our own space, and is also why it won’t be the all consuming behemoth everyone’s worried about,” he adds.
That much is a salient point. While we’re all waiting for the next Grand Theft Auto to take over pop culture, it’s only launching on PS5 and Xbox Series X. PC-exclusive players have to wait, and those who are more concerned about the online aspects will likely have to remain seated for an unspecified amount of time, too.
This won’t slow down the advertising and news segments, mind – you can expect to see GTA 6 headlines right up through Christmas, at the very least. And Jorjani gives credit where credit’s due in the fact that none of this is unusual for Rockstar, who’s just doing what it’s been doing for decades.
“Everyone in the industry right now is constantly pivoting strategies and obsessing over early player feedback just to survive,” he comments. “But Rockstar has the brand power to confidently take their time and run their classic play.”
This is a developer and publisher that’s been in this position going right back to Grand Theft Auto 3. These releases are events, they’ve become tougher and tougher competition over the years, and Jorjani believes the benchmark will once again shift this go around.
“They have the confidence and freedom to spend a decade doing things the old-school way because they know the core game will deliver,” he adds in closing. “It’s going to raise the bar for sure.”
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