The currently untitled new GTA 6 will be delayed until May 2026. Purportedly, a lot of game publishers were refusing to commit to a 2025 release date until GTA 6 had one. Now that GTA 6 is out of the picture for 2025 and an exact release date has been set for May 26, 2026, it seems like other publishers are strategically deciding when to release their own games to avoid competing with the juggernaut that is the GTA IP.
As reported by VGC, Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson has confirmed the new Battlefield game, colloquially known as Battlefield 6, will release by March 2026, with a full game reveal this summer. The information came during a company's financial results meeting, with Wilson giving the release window.
After the meeting, a Q&A session took place; one caller asked about how the rest of the games industry would be looking at release dates now that GTA 6 has one, and the answer is complicated. Wilson said that he can't speak for other publishers, but given how long games take to make, market, and release, moving a release date is difficult.
Battlefield Will Get A Summer Reveal And Release By March
After Fall 2025 But Before GTA 6
The new Battlefield's release window of before March 2026 would put it out of the typically competitive fall 2025 season, which will see the another delay like fans are predicting.
Wilson said the company has been building towards a release window that would not trivialize the value of Battlefield, and GTA 6 being out of that same window has made their vision clearer, saying: “I think now, without going too far, we believe that window is clearer than it was before...”
If Battlefield 6 Fails, I Already Have More Faith In Another Successor
While the Battlefield franchise has struggled to grasp what their players want, fan-made projects have done an excellent job at filling in the gaps.
The game will get an official reveal sometime this summer. Other than some pre-alpha concepts that new Battlefield game will have a free-to-play Battle Royale mode, similar to Call of Duty: Warzone, but that is not yet confirmed.
GTA 6's Delay Opens The Floodgates For Other Publishers
More Release Date Information Is Pouring In
Now that GTA 6 finally has an official release date, it seems publishers are evaluating their own release strategies. During an episode of A Hideo Kojima Radio (text in Japanese, translated by Genki), the legendary Metal Gear Solid creator said he actually wanted a September release date for the Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, which will release on June 24 instead, but decided against it to avoid GTA 6 and other fall 2025 releases.
Kojima also compared the release of games to the release of movies, saying: "if a new Mission Impossible movie were to release in May, others wouldn't be able to compete with that so would move somewhere else." With GTA 6's release date finally nailed down (at least for now), the path to release seems to be getting somewhat clearer for other publishers, and Battlefield fans will have a lot to look forward to with an official reveal this summer and potentially less competition for fans' attentions when the game releases early next year.
Source: VGC, A Hideo Kojima Radio/X, Genki/X