Grand Theft Auto 6 is the Most Anticipated 2026 Release for Many Japanese Developers

In a lengthy forward-looking interview of 171 game developers about 2026, Japanese publication Famitsu has revealed that quite a few of the developers are looking forward to one of the biggest upcoming Western games—Grand Theft Auto 6. As caught by GamesRadar, many developers listed titles like Pragmata and Resident Evil Requiem, but the most anticipated upcoming release was seemingly Rockstar Games’ upcoming open-world game.

Among these developers was long-time Atlus director and producer Kauyuki, who has worked on a number of games, including those from the Shin Megami Tensei series. Yamai expressed a belief that Grand Theft Auto 6 could potentially “raise the bar” for games. “I’m excited to see if GTA 6 will finally be released. And if it will raise the bar,” he said.

Yamai was far from the only developer to express these sentiments. Yuki Nishio—localisation manager at CD Projekt RED—is interested in “what innovations GTA 6 will bring…” Nobuyuki Kuroki, known for his work as art director on older SNK titles, said that he thinks Rockstar’s title “will redefine players’ standards.” He went on to express a feeling that “it’ll be a once-in-a-generation turning point for games.”

Naoki Hamaguchi—director of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and the upcoming third part of the trilogy—spoke about being inspired by the “world’s craftsmanship” from previous GTA titles, which in turn is making him excited for the next entry. “In 2026, I’m looking forward to the new entry in the GTA series,” he said. “As a creator myself, I’m inspired by the world’s craftsmanship.” Yakuza/Like a Dragon series director and producer also expressed excitement for the game.

SaGa series director and designer Akitoshi Kawazu noted that the whole world is looking at Rockstar Games. As for GTA 6, he thinks “the content and scale will not disappoint. We will be paying attention to what players enjoy about it.” The sentiment of Grand Theft Auto 6 marking a new generation of gaming was also shared by Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino, who said that, “I feel that GTA 6 will show us the next generation of gaming, and I’m looking forward to it. As hardware performance improves, I hope to see game development that was unthinkable in the past.”

The idea that Grand Theft Auto 6‘s release will have a large impact on the wider gaming industry isn’t exactly a new one. Back when the title was first slated for release in 2025, developers and other workers from the industry had spoken about how its (at the time) release window was causing them to plan their own releases accordingly.

“Rockstar games always suck a lot of money and, more importantly, time out of the market,” said the head of one game publishing company. “We don’t want to be anywhere near that. We are working up multiple different plans for our titles.”

Day of the Devs head curator Greg Rice had gone as far as to say that the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 will also end up boosting the entire industry’s economy. He noted that while GTA 6 itself will be a big launch, there will also be other games coming out at around the same time that will see success thanks to GTA 6 bringing in a new audience.

Grand Theft Auto 6 has seen a few delays since last year, and is currently slated for release on November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.