While there is little doubt about Grand Theft Auto 6 being one of the most highly anticipated games in history, Circana analyst Mat Piscatella believes that, at least in the United States, almost 30 percent of gamers are planning to buy the title. According to GamesRadar, Piscatella went on to call Grand Theft Auto 6 “a rare cultural and commercial moment” for the entire industry.
This largely comes down to the fact that Rockstar hasn’t made a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto franchise since 2013’s Grand Theft Auto 5. Along with this, the studio has largely focused on adding more content to GTA Online, and ultimately didn’t end up releasing anything for the single-player part of the title. This has led to many wanting to get their hands on GTA 6, to the extent that even hardware sales are expected to see a boost.
“Grand Theft Auto 6 represents a rare cultural and commercial moment for the video game industry. Players have been waiting 13 years for a sequel to Grand Theft Auto 5, and demand is expected to extend beyond software sales to include consoles, accessories, and gaming subscriptions as consumers prepare for launch.”
The fact that the current console generation hasn’t really been tempting to casual gamers also plays a role. With Grand Theft Auto 6’s impending release, many will likely use it as a chance to also finally upgrade from their old PS4s and Xbox Ones. “Many consumers who have yet to upgrade to a current-generation console may choose to purchase a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series specifically to play the title.” Piscatella went on to note that the larger impacts of this will likely be seen during the Black Friday sale this week.
“As retailers prepare for Black Friday and holiday season demand, Grand Theft Auto 6 will be a major driver of software sales, hardware upgrades, and gaming-related tech purchases throughout the fourth quarter. Its anticipation and popularity reinforce the growing influence of video games on the broader entertainment and consumer technology markets.”
As Rockstar Games prepares for the November 19th PS5 and Xbox Series X/S release of Grand Theft Auto 6, the company has also been slowly revealing more and more details about the title. Most recently, co-studio head of Rockstar North, Rob Nelson, revealed that the game will have a longer day/night cycle than its predecessor. This decision was seemingly made due to days and nights in GTA 5 feeling too short for the kind of gameplay Rockstar is going for with GTA 6.
Nelson also spoke about the fidelity of the in-game world being considerably higher than anything Rockstar has made before. This meant that the studio had to pay attention to smaller details as well, since they would be magnified, including how NPCs can react to the player’s behavior, for example.
“As the resolution of the worlds goes up, I think there are things you can’t get away with in the same way. If you want a pedestrian population to behave believably, and you can stand in front of them and produce an automatic shotgun out of nowhere and they don’t react, then that doesn’t work.
“That barely held in GTA 5, where you could literally produce one of those weapons in front of somebody and they would not react unless you aimed it at them. Only then would they run. To me, that was already showing its age in GTA 5 at that level of resolution.”
