Earlier this month Rockstar postponed GTA 6 for a second time, moving the new launch date to November 19. Shams Jorjani, CEO of Arrowhead Game Studios — the team behind Helldivers 2 — is the latest industry leader to weigh in on how the title’s arrival will shape the wider market.
Speaking on The Game Business (embedded below), Jorjani described the cultural weight of the franchise, saying the next GTA release “is going to blot out the sun in a way unimaginable for everyone else.” He added that while it’s tempting to doubt the scale of Rockstar’s reach — “surely it can’t be that big” — the reality is that it often is.
For Arrowhead specifically, Jorjani framed the delay as a welcome reprieve. “If it’s releasing six months later, then it means that’s another six months of uninterrupted work without GTA looming over us,” he said. He noted that while his studio plans releases without obsessing over competitors’ calendars, the cultural gravity of the GTA franchise has been difficult to ignore.
Because this marks a second postponement, Jorjani said he expects the November 19 date to hold. “Generally you don’t go out and delay stuff twice until you’re very sure that the new date is going to stick,” he explained.
Still, Jorjani offered blunt advice to studios worried about Rockstar’s next release: “My suggestion to anyone who’s afraid of GTA is to change your line of business.” A pointed comment, and one that underscores how dominant Rockstar’s launches can feel.
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