GTA 6's Biggest Competitor Is The Last Game We Expected

As much as we are all looking forward to the release of Grand Theft Auto VI next year, we can also spare a moment to think about the poor developers who will have to go up against such a monumental video game launch.

However, a recent report has revealed that Grand Theft Auto VI will have just one major competitor and that is none other than its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto V.

At the time of writing, Grand Theft Auto VI is still on track to be released on 26 May 2026 and it is believed that it will be the biggest video game launch of all time.

With Rockstar’s latest Grand Theft Auto entry expected to sell 38 million copies and bag the company over $2.7 billion in its first year according to some analysts, it is understandable that other publishers will not want to go head-to-head with the giant.

With that in mind, it is worth asking yourself if any other game will be able to compete with GTA VI but a recent discovery shows that there is a game that can: Grand Theft Auto V.

According to GamesIndustry.biz’s Mat Piscatella, GTA V remains the biggest competitor to GTA VI based on the former’s monumental game sales.

"You look at something like Fortnite. It's been, what, seven, eight years now that that thing's been the biggest thing in the world. Or Minecraft,” he explained.

“Grand Theft Auto 5 launched in 2013 [and] it's still one of the top 20 best-selling games every single month."

"The biggest competitor to Grand Theft Auto 6 will be Grand Theft Auto 5. [These are] wild times to try to make new video games."

Considering that, since its launch back in 2013, Grand Theft Auto V has racked up 215 million copies sold worldwide across three console generations, it is no wonder that GTA VI will have a lot to live up to.

Thanks to the success of the base game and its accompanying Grand Theft Auto Online multiplayer mode, GTA V has pushed the Grand Theft Auto franchise to earnings worth over $10 billion so we can only imagine how this will increase in the coming years.