Just yesterday, we broke the news that producer and event presenter Geoff Keighley and former Gamesindustry.biz boss Christopher Dring were joining forces to bring out a new news format focused on the evolution and preservation of the video game industry called The Game Business. What we didn’t know is that today we’d have the first news slot, in newsletter and podcast format, where Dring joins Circana analyst Stephen Totilo to discuss the scene of the most anticipated release of the year, and even the decade: GTA VI.
No one wants to be seen anywhere near GTA VI
In fact, the current outlook is that Take-Two and Rockstar are going to have a free hand to tinker with the release date wherever it suits them best. According to their sources, the world’s biggest game publishers are preparing to alter their release schedules if necessary so as not to coincide with Grand Theft Auto VI. What’s more, not even the top 10 publishers and game-as-a-service studios plan to update content in the week of GTA 6’s release. Therefore, a delay would only increase the potential costs of these schedule disruptions. According to both analysts, Nintendo would benefit the most from a delay to 2026, as it would have the Christmas period to boost sales of Nintendo Switch 2 and its recent catalogue.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows has had a great launch, but it’s not a record-breaker
Naturally, these days you couldn’t lose track of what many called Ubisoft’s “last bullet” to avoid bankruptcy for the company. Assassin’s Creed Shadows has, fortunately, resonated well with audiences and critics alike, with many agreeing that it is the best instalment of the franchise in its “modern” era (i.e. since Origins). In terms of physical sales, Shadows was only ahead of the release of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, although that has to be qualified by the fact that it occurred during a time of confinement due to the COVID pandemic. Shadows sold a similar number of boxed copies as Assassin’s Creed Mirage, but with the latter coming out at a lower price (it is also a more modest title), profits in the case of the more recent release have been 47% higher.
GfK data indicates that this has been Ubisoft’s best launch in years, and that Shadows has sold more in one week than Star Wars Outlaws in its first three months, to give an example. Good initial figures, then, for Ubi’s accounts, but we’ll have to keep an eye on Shadows to see if its legs are as long as they seem.