Category: IGN

The Florida Joker is back, this time to tell Rockstar he’s not going to sue over a character in GTA 6 anymore. Rather, he’d very much like to voice the character instead.

First, some background. Lawrence Sullivan — aka the Florida Joker — had complained about the GTA 6 trailer by threatening a lawsuit against developer Rockstar Games unless he was paid.

GTA 6 takes place in the state of Leonida, Rockstar’s version of Florida, and following the release of the record-breaking debut trailer fans noticed several real-life references. Among them was what appeared to be a reference to Sullivan, a tattoo model who garnered plenty of online attention after his mugshot went viral in 2017. He earned the nickname Florida Joker due to his green hair and face tattoos.

The GTA 6 version, seen in a quick shot of news footage, is a bit different — purple hair instead of green, some different face tattoos — but the similarities are certainly hard to ignore, which Sullivan didn’t. He acknowledged the GTA 6 video in a TikTok posted last year, and then posted a follow-up demanding millions of dollars in compensation.

In that TikTok, Sullivan appeared with purple-dyed hair to ape the GTA 6 character more closely. “GTA, I’m giving you the biggest free marketing you got in the entire history of running this GTA game,” he said. “For that, I want an extra million dollars. Y’all taking forever to respond back to me. GTA we gotta talk.”

Then, Sullivan said: “You think I’m playin? You got three days… three days before my lawyers go crazy on this case. I got hard evidence.” IGN had asked Rockstar to comment on Sullivan’s claims, but didn’t hear back. In a previous TikTok, Sullivan demanded up to $2 million from Rockstar Games over the character’s appearance in the trailer. “Florida Joker ain’t having that,” he said, “y’all took my likeness, y’all took my life.”

Now, Sullivan has taken to TikTok once again, this time singing a different tune. “GTA, Rockstar, Take-Two, we gotta talk,” Sullivan said. “I’m not suing y’all no more, but y’all still out your goddamn nuggets. It’s been two whole months. Y’all still haven’t reached out to me. Still haven’t DM’d me. Let’s do what’s right. Show me like $50,000, $100,000. Let me voice the character, let me go to the meet-and-greets when the game is released, sign, take pictures with the fans. Come on man, we make worldwide news, every blog. Every news outlet covered me on the game. Everyone knows who I am, trust me. So GTA, Rockstar, we gotta talk.”

Sullivan then goes on to say perhaps the silliest thing he’s said throughout this entire saga: “I’m making the game more relevant. People want to play it. I’m the reason the game is so hype right now.”

Despite Sullivan’s various TikToks, it seems unlikely he will get anything out of Rockstar Games. Last year Roger Clark, the voice actor behind Red Dead Redemption 2 protagonist, Arthur Morgan, warned Sullivan from taking on the might of Rockstar. “They’re [Rockstar Games] not going to talk to you,” he said in a since-deleted TikTok.

“They’ve had people like you trying to sue them for decades. They are lawyered up, man. They know exactly what they can and cannot get away with. If I were you, I would use the notoriety they just threw your way to your advantage. Capitalize on it somehow. You ain’t getting a job at Home Depot with that face.”

Sullivan’s TikToks are only the latest development in what’s been a whirlwind since the leak, and then the official launch, of the hotly anticipated GTA 6 trailer. It broke YouTube viewership records and spurred a number of theories as fans eagerly await the game’s 2025 release, although PC gamers will have to wait.

This week, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said he expects a GTA 6 release sometime after March 2025. This is notably a little later than what some have been speculating based on past remarks by Take-Two Interactive, GTA 6’s publisher.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Hideo Kojima has returned to his once dormant YouTube channel, HideoTube, after seven years to discuss Death Stranding 2, his recently announced return to the action-espionage genre, and to talk openly about a difficult time he went through during the height of the pandemic.

During the PlayStation State of Play January 2024 showcase, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima announced his return to the action-espionage genre with a video game and movie hybrid codenamed Physint that’ll have “near life-like graphics”.

We don’t know much about Physint, but what we do know suggests a PlayStation 6 launch is a distinct possibility. During State of Play, Kojima said production is expected to begin “in earnest” at Kojima Productions after Death Stranding 2 and in partnership with Sony.

In the new video, Kojima again bigged up Physint’s visuals. “It will be both a game and a movie at the same time,” he said. “That’s why we were at Sony Pictures. A new action-espionage game. Of course, it will be a game. However, if your mother walks in and sees you playing this game, she’ll think you’re watching a movie. I’m not sure how far we can take it yet.”

Kojima is of course famous for his fancy cutscenes and hyper-detailed character models. The way he’s talking about Physint, it sounds like we can expect another leap in visuals.

Kojima then went on to discuss why he decided to make Physint, pointing to the many requests he’s had to make another Metal Gear game. “… because I became independent, I wanted to do something new with my own IP,” he said. “So to challenge myself, I first made DS. Then, to create a franchise, I made DS2. And I wanted to do something even newer, so I started working on OD. And since then, there have been a lot of new ideas. But in the last eight years, every day on social media, from users all around the world, people have been asking me to create another Metal Gear and stuff like that.”

Kojima then talked about a moment in 2020 during the pandemic when he became so ill he had to have surgery and even wrote a will. It sounds like a serious moment in the life of the 60-year-old, so much so that he considered leaving video game development behind. But it was a message from Hollywood director Guillermo del Toro, who starred in Death Stranding, that Kojima credits as “saving” him.

“I fell ill in 2020,” Kojima said. “It was also during the pandemic, so I was sick and isolated during all of it. I even had surgery. And I thought, ‘I can’t anymore.’ I was at my lowest and felt like I couldn’t go back to making games. I wrote a will, too. And in that moment, I realised that people die. But, I turned 60 last year. I’ll turn 70 in 10 years. I hope to never retire.

“Having said that, if the users desire it so much, I thought I should change my priorities a bit. I still want to do new things, but I decided to make an action-espionage game. I get many requests from Hollywood to make films, but I’ve refused them. Because I have my own company now, I can’t leave for one or two years to go make a movie. The company would collapse. I was in a tough spot.

“And I talked to Guillermo del Toro about it. And he said, ‘Hideo, what you’re making is already a movie. Keep going as you are.’ His words saved me.

“And since we’ll be working with many creators in the business, though the output is a game, it won’t be too different from movies.”

Kojima’s video is worth a watch as it goes into more detail on Death Stranding 2, revealing various story and character details while retaining much of the mystery he’s famous for fostering.

It’s a busy time for Kojima, who is working on Death Stranding 2, OD for Microsoft, and Physint for Sony. There’s also an untitled Death Stranding film in the works.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

A Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League player has unearthed a hidden message that looks like a strong hunt at the return of a crucial character.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League spoilers follow.

In Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Harley Quinn kills a mind-controlled Batman in what has proven to be one of the most controversial story moments in Rocksteady’s looter shooter. This is the Batman from Rocksteady’s much-loved Arkhamverse, and so the cutscene sparked a vociferous debate about the character’s demise.

That, many players thought, was that. But could Batman return? A new video from Batman Arkham Videos suggests Batman is set for a return. As detailed in the video, Suicide Squad players can find 12 calendars throughout Metropolis, each highlighting a specific date. Importantly, the calendar for December features a bat symbol on the marked day, and is found in the location of a crucial Batman scene.

While this Easter egg appears to be the work of Batman supervillain Calendar Man, it is very much about Batman himself. As Batman Arkham Videos worked out, is that converting the dates into letters based on the day of the month, and sorting each letter in order by month, they spell out a hidden message: “He will return.”

As you’d expect, the discovery has caused the Suicide Squad community to excitedly predict how Batman might return. On the face of it, it seems unlikely (he was shot in the head after all). But there are all sorts of theories beyond the simple, ‘this is a comic book story so superheroes never die’ explanation. For example, some theorise the Justice League characters who are killed in the game are clones created by Brainiac, and the original characters are holed up somewhere for safekeeping. Another theory suggests multiverse shenanigans, which may or may not mean Batman from another universe turns up to save the day. Some even reckon the entire game takes place in an alternate universe separate from previous Arkham games.

There’s more: datamining has shown strong hints that Flash and Green Lantern are set to return in some form, so adding Batman to the list wouldn’t be a big reach. Officially, all we know is that Joker is set to arrive in Suicide Squad as a playable character. Other characters suspected to be on their way include Mrs Freeze (Nora Fries), Lawless, and Deathstroke.

But it’s the return of Batman that would be the highest-profile change, given how Suicide Squad’s story has gone down with some. Developer Rocksteady and publisher Warner Bros. have yet to comment.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Helldivers 2 has become Sony’s biggest ever game launch on Steam, despite a ‘mixed’ reception from players.

Arrowhead Game Studios’ cooperative action game is published by Sony Interactive Entertainment across PS5 and PC via Steam. While Sony does not publish player numbers for PlayStation games, Valve does for Steam games. Yesterday, February 8, Helldivers 2 launched big on Steam with a peak concurrent player count of 81,840. That puts it ahead of Sony Santa Monica’s God of War, which enjoyed a peak concurrent player count of 73,529 when it launched on PC two years ago, according to SteamDB.

.@helldivers2 is now the most concurrently played game on Steam published by @PlayStation at 81k players.

Previous record was God of War at 73k players. pic.twitter.com/Ki0cJtdi4n

— SteamDB (@SteamDB) February 9, 2024

Helldivers 2’s PC success comes despite it launching day-and-date alongside the PS5 version, which is an unusual but not unprecedented strategy for Sony. Sony published IllFonic’s Predator: Hunting Grounds, for example, across PS4 and PC on the same day in April 2020. Helldivers 2 is also the top-selling game by revenue on Steam, ahead of smash hits such as Palworld and Call of Duty. It’s worth noting Helldivers 2 is not a full-price game but cheaper at $39.99.

Whether Sony might be willing to relax its policy for its big first-party exclusives remains to be seen. The recently released Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is not available on PC and Sony has yet to announce a PC version. Shift Up’s eye-catching action game Stellar Blade is down for release on PS5 only, as is Team Ninja’s Rise of the Ronin. Concord, a brand new PvP multiplayer first-person shooter from Firewalk Studios, is due to launch on PS5 and PC.

Despite Helldivers 2’s Steam success, it has a ‘mixed’ user review rating, with some users pointing out performance problems that are causing issues on PC. Arrowhead has released a patch to Steam that appears to have eased matchmaking issues for PC as well as some crash issues.

“We know there’s more to solve, and we’re working our way through it,” Game Director Mikael Eriksson said. “Nevertheless, we hope this rapid patch goes a long way to making your experience better.

“Now go smash some bugs (and bots)!”

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Cardy, Matt, and Jesse have been blowing loads up aliens up in Helldivers 2 and having a bloody laugh doing it, too. There’s also a big delve into the first couple of chapters of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and whether it lives up to the high standards of Remake. Plus, there’s also plenty of time to look back at Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, chat about True Detective: Night Country, natter about The Iron Claw, and break huge chocolate biscuit news.

Get in touch at ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast 735: Helldiving into Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

• IGN UK Podcast 734: Suicide Squad and Dale’s Big Plane Story
• IGN UK Podcast 733: Slurping Pal Fluid
• IGN UK Podcast 732: Indiana Jones and the Fantastic Triangle
• IGN UK Podcast 731: The Big 2024 Preview
• IGN UK Podcast 730: Flo Rida’s Christmas Catch-Up

In recent weeks, a flurry of Xbox rumors about everything from platform exclusivity, the future of the company as a hardware maker, and more have prompted fans to start speculating whether or not there will even be an Xbox console for the next hardware generation. Xbox head Phil Spencer has been gearing up to explain the company’s business plan in an update next week, but in the meantime, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick is keeping a relatively cool head about how any of it will impact his company’s business.

Speaking to IGN ahead of the release of Take-Two’s Q3 earnings, Zelnick spoke about both the future of physical games media as well as whether or not having two competing consoles was a necessity. We pointed out the persistent rumors that Xbox seems to be backing away from selling physical games, and asked Zelnick if Take-Two still saw value in releasing physical games on Xbox in light of that – especially since 95% of the company’s net bookings last quarter were digital anyway.

Zelnick answered with a line he’s used before when asked about other types of business models: “We’ll be where the consumer is.”

” I think I said, I think ten years ago, I was asked what will be the market share of digital distribution in ten years and I said, most of it. [Author’s Note: We couldn’t find this precise quote, but he did predict digital would grow significantly.] But there will almost certainly be a physical market that extends for quite a long time. There still is in the recorded music business, for example. We’ll support that if it makes sense to support it. We don’t make our decisions based on opinions. We base our decisions on where the consumer is.”

I pressed him on the situation with Xbox specifically, and Zelnick reiterated his stance. Xbox’s own moves will certainly inform their decision, he said, because they can’t publish physical games on a console if it doesn’t support them. But what it all comes down to is still consumer behavior.

Then, he added:

“It’s not costly to master something for physical distribution. As long as you don’t produce too much inventory, it’s not costly…So this isn’t a big decision for us. It was a big decision 30 years ago in the business when we had to produce cartridges, and you couldn’t do anything with them…but today we can order a disc and five days later it can be on the shelf.”

Finally, I asked Zelnick if he felt it was important to his business and the health of the video game market to have an Xbox console competing with PlayStation. He replied: “I think it’s a benefit. Do I think ultimately it’s a necessity? No. But I do think it’s a benefit.”

Take-Two reported net bookings of $1.34 billion in the last quarter, down 3% year-over-year, and 95% of which were digital. Grand Theft Auto 5 sold yet another five million copies, bringing it up to over 195 million total units, and NBA 2K24 crossed the 7 million units sold mark as well. The company lowered its fiscal outlook for the full year due to a mix of factors including the delay of No Rest for the Wicked, weakening mobile ad spend, and lower than expected performance of NBA 2K. The new outlook expects between $5.25 billion to $5.3 billion in net bookings.

We also spoke to Zelnick in the same interview about the GTA 6 trailer leak last December, and asked the CEO about the company’s plans for cost reduction, and whether or not those would include layoffs.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Alongside Take-Two’s earnings report, CEO Strauss Zelnick revealed his thoughts on the trailer leak for Rockstar Games’ highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6.

Zelnick said that while it was “disappointing” that the trailer was leaked before Rockstar could officially reveal it to the world, he does not believe it hurt the development team.

“It’s amazing when the trailer announcement is huge news, and then we were very gratified when the trailer broke the internet…so we couldn’t be happier or more excited,” Zelnick explained. “In terms of the leak, that’s always disappointing for the team, but ultimately, I don’t think it hurt us.”

Grand Theft Auto 6 was one of 2023’s biggest gaming announcements, coming in right at the end of the year. Rockstar planned to reveal the first GTA 6 trailer on December 5, 2023, at 9 am ET. However, that trailer would be leaked on X/Twitter less than 24 hours before its scheduled premiere, leading to Rockstar officially posting the trailer on YouTube early.

As Zelnick alluded, Rockstar developers took to social media to express their frustration at the trailer leaking before its premiere. Nevertheless, the trailer was still a massive hit when it did premiere, breaking MrBeasts’ record for most views on YouTube in 24 hours. One of the game’s playable characters, Lucia, also quickly became a fan favorite, to the point that fans are already modding her into other games.

Grand Theft Auto 6 will be released sometime next year on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. For more on GTA 6, check out our roundup of everything we’ve learned about the game so far.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

If you like demanding, bite-sized platformers, I have great news for you! Bzzzt is a fun and fresh entry that evokes really popular games in the genre, such as Celeste and Super Meat Boy. What’s more, we are giving out keys as part of IGN Plus. WOOHOO!

IGN Plus Monthly Game: Bzzzt

Bzzzt is a fast-paced platformer from solo developer Karel Matejka (also known as KO.DLL). who has worked on the game alone for four years. They crafted every element of the game except the (very catchy) music, which was deftly made by their long-time friend Martin Linda. According to Karel, Bzzzt is inspired by a litany of games, including Manic Miner, Mario, Oddworld, Mega Man, VVVVVV, Shovel Knight, Geometry Dash, Hollow Knight, and more.

From where I’m sitting, it certainly evokes Celeste and Super Meat Boy, too, although unlike Super Meat Boy, there are several difficulty settings which let you make up to three mistakes before needing to start the bite-sized stage over.

Bzzzt Developer Interview – Karel Matejka (Bzzzt Sole Developer)

For this interview, I corresponded with Karel Matejka about their solo-developed game Bzzzt, retro games that inspire them, taking on solo game development, and more.

I hope you enjoy the game, and this excerpt from our interview. Cheers!

Brian: I understand that bringing back the old-school feel and love of retro games inspired the creation of Bzzzt. (It reminds me of Super Meat Boy with a dash of Celeste, among other things)

Karel: I was always fascinated by the old 8-bit games. As a kid, I was amazed by a new and fresh kind of entertainment I had never seen before. It was the main reason why I started making games by myself. After more than 30 years in the game industry, working on big titles, I decided to “time-travel” back to the eighties, become an indie developer, and see if I could make a game reflecting that nostalgic feeling without any old computers’ limits. I wanted to pay tribute to games I grew up on but with fresh design approaches, perfectly tight controls, rainbow art, high-frequency animations, and supersonic-speed gameplay.

I did not see the reason for creating “just another” retro game with loose controls… platforming full of frustration, and stuttering camera movement – that’s why I also searched for inspiration in modern games. Celeste has remarkably polished controls and a system of helping players. Super Meat Boy inspired me to make the gameplay more frenetic, and Cuphead was the inspiration for the ever-changing gameplay and boss stages. The list of games which influenced Bzzzt is almost endless: Manic Miner, Mario, Oddworld, Mega Man, VVVVVV, Shovel Knight, Geometry Dash, Hollow Knight, etc.

Brian: What makes the short stages / speedrunning style so compelling, as a developer?

Karel: I tried to build longer stages during playtesting, but this level design was too stressful for players. So, I decided to create shorter stages with perfectly synchronized traps and keep surprising players with new mechanics at every step – that was finally the right direction for the game and the source of core fun!

The Bzzzt game is about solving fast speedrun puzzles, easily memorizing all obstacles, and performing perfect jump-dash-run sequences without worrying too much about being killed by traps or enemies. Everything is instant, satisfying, and very, very addictive. The quote, “Just one last run, and I am going to sleep”, best illustrates this game.

What are some of the team’s favorite things/elements from the games?

Karel: I play games mostly because of their story (I am a huge fan of the JRPG genre). If the game has a well-written story, I am in! Maybe that’s why I am not a big fan of the Rogue-like genre. I need some progress, and I hate losing it. I love it when developers experiment with genres. When there is something fresh, a new game mechanic or an unexpected genre twist, I enjoy it a lot.

For instance, Dave the Diver. Almost all exploration games have fishing minigames – variations that have been seen hundreds of times – and Dave the Diver team finally made fishing entertaining. Or Loop Hero. They picked a Tower Defense genre and turned its established rules inside out.

Brian: For me, the music is great and the feel of the platforming is fantastic.

Karel: I started experimenting with music when I realized that many games share animation tempo and music rhythm. In the Rayman series, there are stages that are synchronized with the music, or “dancing” flowers in Plants versus Zombies are great examples.

With Martin, we decided to make the soundtrack and animated sprites precisely this way. Players will not realize this immediately, but it’s something inside that will satisfy their senses.

Brian: I am a big fan of Easy mode’s 3 lives. Being able to scale the challenge to the players desired level is a plus in my opinion. Was there ever a discussion about a mode with infinite continues per stage, or adding slowdown, or other accessibility options, given the demands placed on the player?

Karel: Yes, we are still discussing that. I plan to add a more “relaxing” mode to the game. Many players want less challenging enemies or to enjoy the game art without being disturbed by traps too much. I have already started working on that.

Brian: The sidescrolling bullet hell section with the ship was so cool, as was the 80s synthwave music.

Karel: Initially, the idea behind the game was to pay tribute only to one specific game – the first game I played on ZX Spectrum with my brother. It was Manic Miner. But when I was coding more and more subsystems, I realized it would be an unexploited potential to use only one inspiration. So, In the end, I decided to pay tribute to more games from that era. And SHMUP, because I love that genre a lot, was the first one I decided to add there as a bonus. There are so many cultural references inside the game, and it’s up to players to discover them.

Brian: Were there any other names you considered for the game?

Karel: Haha, I did not consider other names, this one was the first. Yes, I know that the game title is a bit silly, but as everything inside the game has its own inspiration evoking ’80s/’90s, there are also a few ones behind the Bzzzt name. The first one is a game called PSSST!, which was released on ZX Spectrum in 1983. The second is Ruby Rhod’s quote from The Fifth Element, directed by my favourite director, Luc Besson. And, the last inspiration is that the name reminds me of the sound of electricity, and it has a tight connection with the main character and the electric traps used inside the game.

Brian: Any notable, interesting, or fun stories from development that you can share?

Karel: When thinking about naming characters, I decided to use my friends’ names. There is a bar in Prague called BAD TIMES with a bartender named Norbert. The funny thing is, he hates his name so much that he asked us to call him only Bert (and he can be really mad sometimes). So, I have drawn the main antagonist after him, calling him Badbert and good scientist Norbert. This way, my favourite bartender has a double role in a game and does not even know about that. Maybe Badbert character is my alter ego in the end. Who knows?

Brian: What would you tell players who are getting ready to jump in for the first time?

Karel: I hope players will have fun playing the game like I did while creating it. It was a crazy long ride, but it was worth it. Bzzzt game is not only a trip to the past; it is a record of how I remember the evolution of precision platformers from its beginning till now. Oh yes! And there are leaderboards, trophies and Steam achievements!!! 🙂 And if you are still not decided, there is a free demo on Steam.

Bonus: What is one game you’ve played lately that really captured you?

Karel: Haha, I am again playing HEROES OF MIGHT AND MAGIC 3 right now. It captured me 25 years ago and can’t let me go. 🙂

What Is IGN Plus?

IGN Plus is IGN’s membership program for IGN fans and gamers. You can try it for just $1 for 30 days to see if it’s for you. As an IGN Plus member you get:

• No third party ads across all of IGN
• Unlimited use of IGN and MapGenie game maps
• Access to free game codes and DLC each month (Recent titles include: American Hero, Enclave HD, Antonball Deluxe, KarmaZoo, & more)
• Grants 15% off most items at the IGN Store
• Huge giveaways (Tekken 8 figures, custom Steam Decks, etc.)
• And much more!

Brian Barnett writes reviews, guides, features, & more for IGN & GameSpot. You can get your fix of his antics on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Bluesky, & Backloggd, & check out his fantastic video game talk show, The Platformers, on Backloggd & Apple Podcasts.

No one knows exactly when Grand Theft Auto 6 will launch outside of Take-Two and Rockstar, but some people are in better positions to take guesses than others. One of those better-equipped guessers is Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, whose job involves making business plans that account for competitors’ massive game releases. At the moment, Guillemot is expecting a GTA 6 release sometime after March 2025 – and he’s feeling pretty good about it.

During Ubisoft’s Q3 earnings call today, Guillemot was asked how Ubisoft was thinking about their upcoming games lineup now that GTA 6 has been officially announced. The asker suggested the game was expected to target the end of fiscal 2025, which for Ubisoft would mean sometime in January through March of 2025.

Guillemot responded as follows:

What we’ve seen in the past is that each time there’s a big release like GTA, there are more and more people coming back to the industry, and that helps other games to sell as well. We see it for sure. We look at this and we are really organizing things around the launch of that game, which we do not know exactly when it is going to happen. We consider it will be closer to our financial year ’26 than our financial year ’25. But what we’ve seen is that generally it’s actually positive for the market, and we did a good launch with the launch of GTA 5 first launch and GTA 5 online game, each time we were able to generate really good revenue and profit on the games we launched.

To clarify, this means Guillemot is expecting GTA 6 won’t show up until April of 2025 or later, which does fit with the official release window Take-Two gave of just “2025.” But this is notably a little later than what some have been speculating based on past remarks by Take-Two Interactive, GTA 6’s publisher. Previously, Take-Two made bold projections about “groundbreaking titles” releasing in its own fiscal 2025 (which lines up with Ubisoft’s) that would bring them to “achieve over $8 billion in net bookings,” followed by even higher results in fiscal 2026. This could mean GTA 6 has been quietly pushed back behind the scenes, but it’s also possible this prediction was never intended to be about GTA 6 in the first place, but a number of analysts took that to mean GTA 6 would be a fiscal 2025 game.

Whatever the case, everything is still speculation and we won’t know GTA 6’s release date until we’re told what it is. But if you were expecting to be able to play it first thing in 2025, you might want to temper your hopes a bit.

What’s maybe more interesting is Guillemot’s statement that a GTA 6 release will be good for Ubisoft too. It’s long been known that AAA game companies will frequently sweat over when to release games so they don’t have to compete with other major releases that might drown them out, so it’d be natural for Ubisoft to want to avoid having any of its own major releases debut around the same time as GTA 6. But Guillemot’s point that a game like GTA 6 will draw people into video games who haven’t played them in a while or even ever before is an apt one. After they get done with GTA 6, players will want something else to do, and that something might just be an Ubisoft game.

We finally got our first look at GTA 6 later last year, when the first official trailer leaked less than 24 hours before it was supposed to debut. We learned at the time that it currently isn’t planned for PC at launch, and that it will feature dual protagonists including a new fan-beloved heroine named Lucia. For more information, check out our roundup of everything we’ve learned about the game so far.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.