GTA 6 gets fresh competition as AAA game hit by 3-month delay

Grand Theft Auto VI has become the boogeyman of 2026.

Developers and publishers have had to tread carefully to ensure their games don’t get lost in the noise when Rockstar’s next title launches.

Some games have had to make the difficult, or rather brazen, decision to go head-to-head with GTA VI, though.

Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Remastered is a popular example because if anything could go toe-to-toe with the next Grand Theft Auto, it’s a gigantic nuclear lizard.

However, now GTA VI has another challenger, from the far-flung future of a grimdark universe.

READ NEXT: 10 Major AAA Games Launching In The September Rush To Avoid GTA 6

GTA 6 goes head-to-head with a tabletop legend

Recently, Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War IV shared the unfortunate news that it was getting delayed.

The delay isn’t too severe. It was originally supposed to launch on September 17, but it’ll now launch on December 3.

Those who purchase the Commander Edition of the game will still get early access, which has moved to November 30.

Dawn of War IV’s creative director Jan Theysen shared the news, saying in a YouTube announcement: "As we approached the final stages of development, we saw an opportunity to further enhance Dawn of War 4 and deliver the quality of experience we’ve always envisioned.

He went on to say that the team will be “optimising performance”, fixing any prevailing bug issues, and ensuring that “players have the best possible experience from day one."

It’s obviously the right decision, but it does not place the game in the firing line of GTA VI, and unlike other titles it doesn’t have the luxury of making the first move…

GTA VI launches on November 19, which is around two weeks before Dawn of War IV is set to come out.

Not the best timing, as fans will be knee-deep in the next Grand Theft Auto game, but Warhammer 40k has always had a huge following, so surely the loyalist fans won’t see it fail.

What is Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War IV?

Real-time strategy gamers will get a kick out of this one regardless of how much they know about Warhammer 40k. In fact, 2026 is shaping up to be a great year for strategy games, especially with Star Wars Zero Company blowing us away.

We played this title during Gamescom 2025 and loved it. At the time of our preview, it matched thrilling, tactical gameplay with gloriously gutsy spectacle. If you zoom in on the characters fighting, you can see the combat in immense detail, as every move they make is calculated and rendered in real-time.

The game launches exclusively for PC as that’s been the platform of choice for all of the other Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War games, but fingers crossed a console port gets announced sometime in the future.

Its chances of beating GTA VI might be zero, but that’s not to say it’s one to sleep on or dismiss!

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