If there's no PS6 until 2028 or 2029, GTA 6 becomes the de facto anchor title for the PS5's extended twilight years. This is a big deal. The PS5 has sold roughly 92.2 million units as of the end of 2025, putting it past the PS3 but still well short of the PS4's 117 million and, more importantly, the PS2's record of 160 million. The PS2 remains the best-selling console of all time, and it got there in part because of its unusually long lifecycle, which kept it on store shelves well into the PS3 era.
If Sony chooses to delay the PlayStation 6 to the latter half of this decade, we could see a similar dynamic play out. Millions of potential console buyers who have been sitting on the fence - we know they exist because console sales hit their lowest November since 1995 following the GTA 6 delay - will have no reason to keep waiting.
The PS6 isn't coming anytime soon, the PS5 is here, and GTA 6 launches on it in November. If the PS5 remains the only PlayStation on the market through 2028 or 2029, and GTA 6 is the biggest game on it, you're looking at a scenario where the PS5 keeps selling at strong volumes for years longer than anyone anticipated.
Could the PS5 actually outsell the PS2? It's a stretch, but it's no longer impossible. The PS5 needs roughly 68 million more units to match the PS2's 160 million. Under normal circumstances, with a PS6 launching around 2027, that gap would be nearly impossible to close. If the PS5 remains Sony's flagship console until 2029, and GTA 6 drives the kind of hardware adoption that Grand Theft Auto V did for the PS3 and PS4, the numbers, Mason, start to make more sense.
There's also the optimization incentive. If Rockstar knows the PS5 is going to be the primary platform for GTA 6 for an extended period, the studio has every incentive to squeeze as much performance out of the PS5 hardware as possible. That's good news for players. It means Rockstar can't rely on a next-gen version to paper over any performance shortcomings. It will have no choice but to make the PS5 version the definitive version for a little while longer than expected.
Of course, this isn't a foolproof plan. Rockstar's track record with cross-gen optimization isn't exactly spotless. GTA V launched on the PS3 and Xbox 360, then got remastered twice: once for PS4 and Xbox One, and again for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Each version was better than the last, but the implication was always that the "real" version was coming later. If the PS6 is delayed, there's no next-gen safety net. Rockstar has to nail the PS5 version from day one.
Ironically, all that optimization work could end up benefiting the PC port down the line. If Rockstar spends the extra time wringing every last drop of performance out of the PS5's hardware, the lessons learned from that process should translate directly into better optimization for mid-range PCs when the port eventually arrives. As we've previously covered, the PC hardware market is in crisis, and a GTA 6 PC port that runs well on mainstream hardware would sell well even at full price for a long time.
Then there's the Switch 2 wildcard. Back in November 2025, insiders NateTheHate and NashWeedle both reported that Rockstar had been running tests to see if GTA 6 could work on the Switch 2. Nothing was confirmed, and NateTheHate was careful to note that "experimenting doesn't equal in development." But the memory crisis adds a new wrinkle to that conversation.
If the PS6 and Xbox's next consoles are both delayed, the Switch 2, which is already on the market and has reportedly sold at a record pace, becomes a much more attractive platform for third-party publishers looking to reach the widest possible audience. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has already said the company "fully expects" to support the Switch 2.
As for performance, the console runs Cyberpunk 2077 and Hogwarts Legacy thanks to DLSS support. A GTA 6 Switch 2 port wouldn't launch alongside the PS5 and Xbox versions, but a scaled-down release a year or two later? That's not as far-fetched as it would have sounded a year ago, especially if there's no PS6 or new Xbox to compete with it.
Of course, none of this is guaranteed. The AI bubble could finally pop, the memory crisis could ease, Sony could find a way to fast-track the PS6, Rockstar could stumble with the PS5 optimization, and the Switch 2 tests might have already been shelved. Still, there exists a possibility where GTA 6 becomes the biggest benefactor of this unfortunate crisis.
The biggest game in the world, launching on a console with no successor in sight, into a market where tens of millions of players have been waiting to buy hardware specifically for this title. Wouldn't that be the dream scenario for the next Grand Theft Auto?
Take-Two has already said that its marketing campaign starts this summer, and Zelnick has called it "the most extraordinary title anyone's ever seen in the history of entertainment." That's a bold claim, but with the PS6 pushed back and no end to the memory crisis in sight, GTA 6 might end up being even more important to the PS5's legacy than anyone at Sony or Rockstar originally planned.
