Earlier this month, Rockstar’s GTA 6 was delayed for the second time, with the latest release date set for November 19. CEO of Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Games Studio, Shams Jorjani, is the latest industry exec to speak out about how the GTA 6‘s release will affect the studio.
In an interview on The Game Business (below), Jorjani discusses just how much impact the best-selling crime simulator has on the industry, saying that the next entry’s release “is going to blot out the sun in a way unimaginable for everyone else.” Explaining how no other game has the cultural impact that GTA does, he says, “On the one hand we’re like, ‘surely it can’t be that big.’ But on the other hand, it is that big, right?”
As for the impact the delay is having on Arrowhead Game Studios, it appears to be nothing but positive. “If it’s releasing six months later, then it means that’s another six months of uninterrupted work without GTA looming over us,” Jorjani says. “We try to do our planning, and not look too much at what else is happening around the time we’re releasing stuff, but GTA has obviously been very hard to kind of avoid.”
As this is the second time GTA 6 has been delayed, Jorjani believes that the “new date’s going to stick” saying that “generally you don’t go out and delay stuff [twice] until you’re very sure that the new date is going to stick.”
Despite Arrowhead’s changing status, Jorjani still warns that studios should not fear the impact that Rockstar’s next game will have. “My suggestion to anyone who’s afraid of GTA is to change your line of business.” Fighting words.
