Microsoft is planning to release four of its biggest franchises in 2026, but according to The Verge's Tom Warren, the trillion-dollar company is treating Grand Theft Auto VI and its November 19 launch date like a no-go zone. They're strategically positioning each of the releases to avoid direct competition with the next Grand Theft Auto, which reinforces the earlier leaks about companies avoiding GTA 6 like the plague, or in the words of certain industry insiders, a "meteor". If that doesn't tell you everything you need to know about the gravitational pull of GTA 6, we don't know what will.
That said, Microsoft is reportedly holding weekly meetings to monitor the ongoing situation and is ready to shift dates at a moment's notice.
At the moment, the "confirmed" dates for their upcoming titles are:
- Forza Horizon 6 - May 19
- Halo Campaign Evolved - Summer 2026
- Fable - Sometime before Fall 2026
- Gears of War: E-Day - Sometime before Fall 2026
This isn't paranoia. It's pretty much the smartest thing that Microsoft has done recently. It also shows Microsoft learning from the humbling it received when Grand Theft Auto V launched in 2013 and generated a billion dollars within three days of launching. Games that launched near it saw their sales decimated. GTA V erased the competition from the conversation entirely, and that was thirteen years ago.
Today, GTA V is the second-best-selling video game of all time, and GTA 6 is expected to sell even more in less time, which is before considering whatever multiplayer component Rockstar eventually launches. If you're Microsoft, looking at those numbers and thinking "yeah, we should release Fable two weeks before GTA 6 drops," you're either incredibly brave or not right in the head.
