PlayStation and Xbox are playing chicken with GTA 6’s release date

Major video games including Marvel’s Wolverine and Fable seem to be going head to head with GTA 6, but do they really have the nerve to do so?

GTA 6 may be the most anticipated title in video game history but it’s a full on existential threat to other publishers. When it was due to be released in May none of them dared schedule a big name game anywhere near it and yet, strangely, that doesn’t seem to be the case now it’s due out in November.

Just last year, a few publishers anonymously admitted that they had every intention of delaying their games so as not to be overshadowed, and that was before GTA 6 was itself delayed again.

The game is now scheduled for November 19 this year, but even with a sizeable heads-up, it’s looking like Sony and Microsoft still intend to launch major titles within the same time frame.

When is Sony releasing Wolverine for PS5?

Officially, GTA 6 is the only game locked in for the final quarter of 2026 (October to December), but the PlayStation 5 exclusive Wolverine game is also aiming for an autumn launch.

Granted, Sony announced Wolverine’s launch plans when GTA 6 was set for a May 2026 release, so it didn’t need to worry about the two games rubbing shoulders, but you must wonder if Sony hasn’t considered a delay.

As part of the company’s latest financial results, Sony did bring up Wolverine but only to say it plans to launch it as part of the next fiscal year, which runs from this April to the end of March 2027.

This could mean Sony is willing to push Wolverine into early 2027, once some of the GTA 6 hype has died down but that would mean missing out on potential Christmas sales.

It’d be a different story if Sony was pushing a more broadly appealing Marvel superhero, but the footage shown for Wolverine makes it clear it’s a a much more violent game than Spider-Man, with lots of gore.

As such, it and GTA 6 are both targeting adult audiences so there’s an even greater risk of customers choosing one game over the other if Wolverine drops even just a month before GTA 6.

When is Microsoft releasing Fable?

Microsoft, meanwhile, just last month announced that its Fable reboot will be launching this autumn and as a multiplatform title across Xbox, PC, and PlayStation 5.

Being a fantasy role-player, Fable isn’t targeting exactly the same demographic as GTA but it’s still not a million miles away. Given the franchise’s relative obscurity, Microsoft will want the new game to reach out to new players and that’s going to be much more difficult if GTA 6 is out at the same time.

According to a report by The Verge, Microsoft is also planning to launch Gears Of War: E-Day in the second half of 2026, even though they’re apparently aware of the danger of releasing too close to GTA 6.

Xbox’s president of content Matt Booty said as much himself in 2024, but if that’s the case, it’s going to want to avoid the October to December months like the plague. However, that means missing out on the Christmas period and it’s not what either Microsoft or this new rumour has suggested.

With Forza Horizon 6 launching on May 19 (at least for Xbox and PC) and the Halo: Combat Evolved remake reportedly aiming for the summer, there’s little room to work with, especially since The Verge claims that Microsoft wants all four of its big 2026 titles releasing on time.

There is every chance GTA 6 will be delayed again, but Take-Two has said the company intends to start a proper marketing push this summer, which it didn’t do before either of the other planned released dates. So unless Microsoft and Sony secretly know it is going to be delayed again they’re taking an awful risk.

What else is launching near GTA 6?

Aside from GTA 6, the last big release of the year with a firm launch date is Phantom Blade Zero, a new Soulslike from Chinese studio S-Game that comes out for PlayStation 5 and PC on September 9.

Early September is perhaps the latest a game could launch without worrying too much of losing its thunder to GTA 6. So, if Sony and Microsoft are committed to launching Wolverine and Fable in autumn that’s when they would presumably aim for.

There’s also the matter of this year’s EA Sports FC and Call Of Duty games, which typically launch every autumn. EA may not have anything to worry about, since EA Sports FC is a huge franchise and new entries tend to launch in September anyway.

Activision, on the other hand, usually releases new Call Of Duty games in late October or early November, which is dangerously close to GTA 6’s release date.

Aside from targeting a similar audience, Call Of Duty is at a special disadvantage as it’s been bleeding players and goodwill for years, culminating in an extremely poor reception towards 2025’s Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7.

With that game all but officially confirmed to be a sales flop and Activision even apologising for its release, the company must be reevaluating things and pinning its hopes on this year’s entry winning back favour.

But when GTA 6 has been hotly anticipated for years and Call Of Duty’s reputation is lower than it’s ever been, many players will likely skip over the new Call Of Duty even if it’s good.

Unless Activision is feeling overly confident, perhaps it too will consider launching Call Of Duty earlier than usual and aim for a September launch. Although if every major release follows the same logic, then September stands to become overly crowded and have all these games eat into each other’s sales.

There’s no obvious safe decision here, given GTA 6 is simply that disruptive. Its release is like a plaster that needs ripping off and publishers won’t stop feeling anxious about launching new games until after GTA 6 has been out for a good few months.

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