Two months before launch, people well outside Rockstar are planning around November 19. Three examples from the past week.
Steven Adams: watch the stats drop
At the Houston Rockets’ media day, center Steven Adams told reporters to prepare for November, when GTA comes out. He predicted that performance across the NBA, the NFL and other leagues will fall for a month, coaches and scouts included, and recover in December once everyone has finished the game (CBS Sports).
Rainbow Six Siege: everyone takes a hit
Joshua Mills, creative director of Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Siege, told The Game Business that GTA is the big release this year and that every game will take a hit when it comes out, whatever the genre. Ubisoft’s plan is to keep its most engaged players with new content and service (Insider Gaming).
Blacksmith Master: same day, on purpose
Hooded Horse, the publisher of Manor Lords, is releasing its medieval management game Blacksmith Master 1.0 on November 19. CEO Tim Bender joked on LinkedIn that people searching for a PC version of GTA will find his game instead, then added that GTA will have no effect on the launch. His advice to indie developers: don’t release an AAA console action game that day, but otherwise don’t worry (GamesRadar+).
Many bigger publishers did move their games away from November, and GamesRadar+ notes that September ended up packed with releases.
The numbers behind the hype are in GTA 6 hype in numbers.
