Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Shams Jorjani shared some glib statement about Grand Theft Auto 6’s delay, and how it affects their game, Helldivers 2.
So far we ourselves have only been reporting on the delay in terms of what games will now be releasing alongside it. But as Jorjani revealed, live service developers are all actually concerned about its looming release.
Jorjani said this in an interview with Christopher Dring for The Game Business:
It uh, it gives us a stay of execution. Us and as everyone else, GTA like on the one hand we’re like surely can’t be that big.
But on the other hand, it is that big, right? It is going to blot out the sun in a way unimaginable for everyone else. And if it’s, you know, releasing 6 months later, then it means that’s another 6 months of uninterrupted work without GTA looming over us.
I can’t imagine I like, like we try to do our planning and not look too much at what else is happening around the time we’re releasing stuff.
Uh but GTA has obviously been very hard to kind of avoid, but it’s also I think this time around I don’t think generally you don’t go out and delay stuff until you’re very sure that the new date is going to stick.
And I think this new date’s going to stick. So ask me again in May of next year what we’re doing then because right now I don’t think we’re doing anything different from November or whenever it is.
Grand Theft Auto 6 Can Devastate Live Service Games – Even Without Grand Theft Auto Online
We don’t know yet if Grand Theft Auto 6 will be launching with Grand Theft Auto Online, or if it will once again arrive a few months after. But it doesn’t need that to immediately affect live service titles.
To be fair, this is not unusual for live service titles in general. There are enough players who also play other games that will leave their games for the next AAA when it comes out.
Obviously, Grand Theft Auto 6 is particularly more high profile than other AAAs. It just happens to be expected to have the biggest launch of any video game in history.
A live service game’s lifeblood relies on the loyalty of their players. Those gamers who do leave their game won’t be that big a problem if they come back.
But that’s where they really get tested on how good their games are, that players will want to come back.
When you consider how long ago it was that Rockstar launched a new Grand Theft Auto, all these fledgling live service titles like Helldivers 2 and Marvel Rivals haven’t experienced a launch like this yet. So this will genuinely be a challenge like they have not experienced before.
