Devolver Digital (the boutique publisher behind Cult of the Lamb, The Talos Principle, Human Fall Flat, Inscryption, and too many other gems) is doubling down on plans to manufacture its very own Barbenheimer moment by dropping a game on GTA 6’s release date.
Earlier in the year, the publisher promised it was “gonna release a game the exact same day and time as GTA 6” on social media. Of course, at that point, Rockstar Games’ release plans were a mystery to almost everyone outside of its walls. Today, though, the company announced that GTA 6 had been delayed to May 26, 2026.
That’s pretty unfortunate news for anyone who’s been looking forward to another blockbuster crimefest for 12 years or so, but good news for Devolver Digital, which can now start making concrete plans for… something.
“You can’t escape us,” the publisher insisted in a new tweet. “May 26, 2026 it is then.”
Devolver Digital’s social media manager might just be making a joke, but the company is widely known for being, err, more eccentric than your average game publisher – just look at any one of its old E3 conferences. I wouldn’t discount them for actually being brave enough to go toe to toe with GTA 6, either (perhaps with a Vice City-inspired Hotline Miami or something, I dunno.)
Especially with the right game, launching in GTA 6’s shadow might actually help Devolver Digital. I mentioned Barbenheimer above, which was the one-two moviegoing punch of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer coming out on the same day, fuelling the virality and box office of both.
A similar phenomenon helped push Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal, which also shared a release date, to greater heights. But maybe the trick here is to not force anything. Sometimes the internet creates these moments by itself.
We’ll see how it all shakes out when GTA 6 and a mysterious Devolver Digital game (maybe) come out on May 26, 2026. The latter will, at least, probably have the benefit of launching on PC day one.
Take-Two CEO “fully” supports Rockstar’s GTA 6 delay, promises “a groundbreaking, blockbuster entertainment experience that exceeds audience expectations”
