Microsoft says Xbox is avoiding GTA 6's 2025 release date

A top Microsoft boss has said Xbox will be avoiding Grand Theft Auto 6's release date to maximise the success of its own first-party titles.

Microsoft's Xbox Games Showcase in June 2024 was acclaimed by fans as one of its best showcases ever, as new Gears of War, Doom and Fable titles were updated or announced along with three new versions of its Xbox Series X/S consoles; some fans lost their minds at the announcement of Gears of War: E-Day.

But specific release dates on a number of these titles are vague.

It seems that's because Microsoft is wary of releasing anything that might coincide with the release of Rockstar's GTA 6 in Autumn 2025 so it doesn't underperform, according to an interview by Variety's Strictly Business podcast with Matt Booty, Xbox's president of gaming content.

"I think many across the industry are of course going to plan around GTA 6 and we're all looking forward to that game, which should be amazing," he said.

"We have a pretty big portfolio, we have a pretty big line-up through the fall and through the spring and we certainly want to make sure that every game is given space and has got an opportunity to shine and we don't end up overshadowing one game by launching it too close to another.

"So when we leave actual months and days of the month open ended, that has just as much to do with the fact that we're looking ahead and making sure we're doing the right planning so we're not getting in our own way.

"Certainly everybody in the industry wants to make sure that we don't land in the shadow of someone else's big release but we just need to keep options open."

Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 1www.youtube.com

GTA 6 is one of the most highly-anticipated games of all time.

The original trailer for it dropped in December 2023 by Rockstar after it was initially leaked online yet it still went on to break YouTube records, including the most views in the first 24 hours a video has been posted that's not music.

The only other official update on the game so far came from Take-Two, an American holding company that owns Rockstar, during an earnings call in May 2024, when it narrowed the release window of GTA 6 down to Autumn 2025.

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