Creators + Press! The Royal Writ launches on console TOMORROW + we have some codes available (PC/Switch/PS5/Xbox)👑
If you like lane-based roguelike deckbuilders or cute medieval animals who'll break your heart when they die in battle, give me a shout or request at pressengine.games/the-royal-writ ❤️
![A screenshot of my opinion published in GamesIndustry.biz:
It's definitely affected things, that's for sure! We've just seen the 2026 calendar rewritten overnight by one of the biggest, if not the biggest, game releases of recent years. We saw a similar domino effect, on a different scale, when Hollow Knight: Silksong's release window shifted and other indies scrambled to find a new launch date. This GTA 6 delay is that same phenomenon, but magnified a thousand times, especially as competitors will have already reshuffled release dates in line with their last delay.
Our role right now is to partner with our clients, listen to their concerns, and advise where needed on this new landscape.
It's crucial to remember that not every game is in direct competition. A client with a deep JRPG or a cosy farming sim has a fundamentally different audience to GTA 6, so their core fans will still be there for them, and their sales may not be totally impacted.
However, we have to be realistic about press and creator priorities. The challenge for those games is instead the battle for 'share of voice.' GTA 6 will consume the majority of the oxygen in the room during Q4 2026. So now our job is to find the best ways for our clients to be heard before and after that noise.
But, to be optimistic for a moment, that Q2 window Rockstar just vacated has suddenly become the most valuable real estate of the year. This delay hasn't just created a challenge, it's also created a massive new opportunity for the right games to step in and own the first half of 2026 – if they're ready to release then, that is. So we're viewing it as more of a strategic reshuffle as opposed to a disaster. But in this industry of delays and shadow drops, we're always alert to change and disruption, so it hasn't totally blindsided us, it just might give us some GTMs [go-to-markets] to adjust.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:j3vtcb5kep32mvlho7tvlsde/bafkreicskdkva2hag7pszliupvgpnwqsv2bpvjfkbzoxzyc3bfofacxd4y)
