GTA 6 will be ‘economic boost’ for all gaming says PlayStation indie boss

While some publishers worry that GTA 6 is going to make selling other games impossible this autumn, the head of PlayStation’s indie team disagrees.

It is not an exaggeration to say GTA 6 will be the biggest video game release of the year. Scratch that, it’s going to be the biggest release in all of entertainment this year. In fact, it’ll probably be the biggest entertainment launch in human history.

As such, it’s completely believable that other publishers and developers are eager to avoid releasing their games anywhere near GTA 6, for fear that they’d be overlooked. It seems likely even the Nintendo Switch 2 is trying to stay out of its way.

This applies especially to indie studios, that lack the same kind of marketing power that Rockstar has, although Sony’s own indie boss is optimistic that GTA 6’s launch will be beneficial for smaller games.

The comments come from Greg Rice, who serves as the head of PlayStation Creators, which means he’s responsible for maintaining the company’s relationship with indie developers, as well as being head curator for Day of the Devs – a non-profit that raises awareness for indie titles.

While attending, on behalf of Day of the Devs, GDC (Game Developers Conference) this week, in San Francisco, Rice told GamesRadar how he’s heard other developers admit they’re ‘worried about [GTA 6] sucking all the space out.’

Unsurprisingly, they’re apprehensive about launching a game even in the same month as GTA 6, since ‘that’s all anyone’s gonna be playing.’ Which isno doubt extra infuriating, as Rockstar and owner Take-Two have yet to say exactly when GTA 6 will launch, only that it’ll happen this autumn.

Rice very much agrees that GTA 6 will ‘do gangbusters and sell millions of copies,’ but he doesn’t think other games are doomed to fail if they happen to come out around the same time.

‘I think the industry is matured enough that there’s space for [GTA 6] and for other things as well,’ said Rice. ‘It’s gonna be a combination of ‘there will be games that will be successful around GTA time because they’re totally different,’ but it’ll also bring a lot more people back into the ecosystem.’

Rice also believes that GTA 6 players will eventually be encouraged to check out other games, calling it an, ‘opportunity to get in on the new console generation and see what else is out there.

‘[GTA 6 is] definitely gonna be a big economic boost for the games industry, and will be a multiple billion dollar title, but I don’t think that it’s at competition with [indie games],’ Rice added.

Rice isn’t the only one expecting GTA 6 to be a boon for the wider industry. With near constant stories of layoffs and studio shutdowns, the games industry has fallen from the heights it enjoyed during the coronavirus pandemic and is still scrambling to find ways to bolster profits.

Aside from making Rockstar and Take-Two a lot of money, GTA 6’s launch should encourage console sales (which will benefit Sony and Microsoft) and draw more interest to games in general, both from consumers and investors.

The latter is especially important and one of the key reasons why companies are currently chasing buzzwords like live service games and AI, even if the likelihood of any resulting game doing well is low.

Not only is GTA 6 expected to have a separate online multiplayer mode, but it is also reported that GTA 6 will feature user-generated content akin to games like Fortnite and Roblox.

Rockstar clearly hopes that players will never run out of things to do in GTA 6 and if it’s anything as successful as GTA 5, people will still be avidly playing it for the next decade and beyond.

Email [email protected], leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter.

To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.

ArrowMORE: GTA 6 needed more than ever as GTA 5 Enhanced is rated worst entry

ArrowMORE: No, GTA 6 did not leak its own soundtrack on social media

ArrowMORE: Play the GTA 6 game map recreated by fan in GTA 5