The final countdown to Grand Theft Auto VI has officially begun. Now that it’s 2026, we’ve reached the year that Rockstar’s long-awaited, open-world crime epic will arrive…unless it gets delayed again. There’s still much to learn and discuss between now and the game’s Nov. 19 release date. In fact, Rockstar still hasn’t revealed gameplay. However, I have looked into the future and can tell you one fact about GTA VI with utmost certainty: In this climate of reactionary fan culture, reflexive contrarianism, and corporate control, it will be impossible for me, as well as my colleagues in games media, to critique GTA VI without the online discourse descending into chaos.
GTA VI: The Video Game Industry’s Life Support System
As a critic, I believe I should limit how much outside context colors my view of a work, but sometimes that’s easier said than done. The core dilemma when critiquing GTA VI is that, even now before release, it has become something much bigger than a video game. It’s a huge symbol with vastly different meanings for vastly different audiences. So, any conversations about it will inevitably morph into discussions of those conflicting symbolic meanings and raise the discourse temperature beyond mere disagreements. This poses problems not just for me but for all critics attempting to discuss the game fairly.
For starters, GTA VI will be the most dramatic example yet of a growing issue affecting the industry: the overreliance on AAA video games. With the majority of indie games too small and overlooked to make a large financial impact on the market, and mid-size games nearly extinct, the gaming industry relies on expensive-to-develop blockbusters. So, if a video publisher can release only one or two titles per console generation, the games must be massive hits to justify many jobs.
Revisit These Rockstar Hits
How do you react to that as a critic, as someone whose words have influence? It’s hard enough to maintain integrity when you know some publishers give teams bonuses for high game scores, so your negative review may literally take money out of someone’s pocket. But right now, between skyrocketing RAM prices, expensive consoles, and $80 game releases, it feels as if GTA’s success is warding off an industry collapse. The fact that’s even a thought is ridiculous! Whether or not GTA VI succeeds or fails is not my problem.
You would think that the follow-up to Grand Theft Auto V would be free from such pressures, but it’s not. GTA V sold more than 220 million copies, earned $10 billion in revenue, and continues to rake in cash through GTA Online. But that success hasn’t created a cushion for GTA VI; it only raised the stakes. GTA VI has become a load-bearing pillar, a product whose financial success must be so astronomical that it props up everything around it.
Close your eyes, and you can already envision YouTube thumbnails like ‘We Waited 12 Years For This???’
Gamers expect GTA VI to change the medium. Many game publishers have rescheduled their releases to get out of its way, so they can make money of their own. Sony is betting the game will convince millions of customers to drop hundreds of extra dollars on PS5 Pros just for the best-looking experience. Every tech or gaming website writes about it for guaranteed traffic (or do you think I’m writing this column just out of the goodness of my heart?). However, expect severe economic ripples throughout the industry if GTA VI underperforms. Keep in mind that “only” selling 100 million copies may not be good enough in today’s landscape. GTA VI’s weight threatens to turn people into either ardent defenders or petty attackers, and critics can’t fall into that trap.
Critics vs. Critics: We Need Measured Opinions
So, given all that, the GTA VI reaction will be impressive to behold. All of the development money will be up on display (it’s estimated at $1 billion!), as seen in the game’s handful of gorgeous trailers. For years, prestigious franchises, such as God of War and The Last of Us, have proven that simply looking expensive can net numerous awards and good word of mouth, despite routine gameplay.
Historically, the GTA games have also delivered impressive graphics, but Rockstar always combines them with wonderfully designed open worlds that define the genre and excellently curated soundtracks. That’s Rockstar’s special touch, its three-headed approach to success. I haven’t played GTA VI yet, but I’ve been listening to “Hot Together” by The Pointer Sisters on loop for months, thanks to its spot in the GTA VI trailer. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the crime drama and offering my sincere opinions.
However, that same audio, visual, and gameplay punch will bludgeon some critics into submission, turning them into arms of the vital GTA VI marketing machinery through its sheer expense and scale. Some will unfortunately turn off their skepticism, let themselves be swept up, and join the hype wave to declare this the greatest game ever made—a very convenient position to hold that flatters game industry bosses, stockholders, and all the other powers that be.
But I know that there will also be disingenuous takes from the other side, writers who may, admittedly, enjoy the game but will still seek to take it down a peg. Once again, GTA VI isn’t just a game but a totem for the hedonistic excess of the entire games industry (something that deserves much criticism). The media should talk about ballooning budgets, mass layoffs, development crunch, sexist hiring practices, and other ills. GTA VI may very well suffer from being too bloated for its own good, and some will eagerly pounce to call out those flaws. Those responses might be more respectable than unquestionably riding the hype wave, but they’re still not entirely honest.
Get Our Best Stories!
Your Daily Dose of Our Top Tech News
By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy
Policy.
Thanks for signing up!
Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!
(Credit: Rockstar)
But I don’t root for the game to fail before I’ve played it, just to somehow prove that anyone excited for it is a rube. Just as the game is unlikely to be the greatest ever produced, it’s also unlikely to be an abject disaster. Even Cyberpunk 2077 eventually overcame its botched launch and technical blunders to become a beloved game. Critics must antagonize executives, not align with them. However, that doesn’t give them permission to be disingenuous about the art itself.
After all, “objective” reviews are a myth; all opinions are subjective and rightfully so. I’m self-aware of how I arrive at my opinions, so they reflect my true thoughts and remain useful to readers. I long for the games media as a whole to do the same. Regardless of their stances, all GTA VI reviews will walk a tightrope—and that’s before you factor in the fans.
Critics vs. Fans: The Eternal Battle
Between these extremes, there will also (hopefully) be thoughtful and nuanced critiques of GTA VI that approach the game’s successes and failures in good faith. Despite reviewers needing to play countless hours to write a coherent GTA VI take before the embargo lifts, they must face hordes of gamers who hate critics, worship product, and reject anything but the most rigid, binary opinions.
Speaking from experience, there’s something truly surreal about being called a slur because of your dissenting opinion on a SpongeBob SquarePants game.
Historically, fans will pounce on anyone who fails to give a game as significant as GTA VI a perfect score, thereby validating their predetermined purchasing decision. They’ll call those writers like me elitist and pretentious, divorced from the more honest beliefs of “real” gamers. For them, video games are just toys and products to enjoy, not art to analyze. Speaking from experience, there’s something truly surreal about being called a slur because of your dissenting opinion on a SpongeBob SquarePants game.
Recommended by Our Editors
Conversely, some fans’ passion for the idea of GTA VI may sour into sheer hatred for the finished game; a hatred directed at anyone who says the game is “pretty good.” They’ll be disgusted by the playable female character, satire of American idiocy in the fake Florida location, and other culture war distractions clogging up video game culture. How could Rockstar betray them like this? In their eyes, GTA VI isn’t art meant to challenge them, but a product meant to serve them.
Additionally, I know many people will complain that the game failed to meet the impossibly high expectations after the long development time. Close your eyes, and you can already envision YouTube thumbnails like “We Waited 12 Years For This???” If you thought the backlash to polarizing, long-awaited sequels like Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Prime 4 was bad, there’s no way GTA VI can possibly satisfy everyone’s expectations. If you’ve grown from a GTA-loving teenager to a nostalgic adult, the title you’ve built up in your head simply cannot exist, a fact that’s difficult to remember when GTA comes out once a decade instead of once a year like sports games. It’s like Valve actually releasing Half-Life 3, except to an exponentially bigger audience.
The biggest shift during the wait for GTA VI is that GTA V, thanks to its longevity and online component, has evolved from a mere game into a full-on live service platform. It’s closer to Roblox or World of Warcraft than Red Dead Redemption or Saints Row. How can GTA VI measure up to that? Imagine making Fortnite 2 or Minecraft 2, and you’ll understand the struggle in penning a GTA VI review. Disagreements are inevitable, but GTA VI’s weight will make the discourse disgusting, and critics—myself included—have no choice but to be mired in it.
Games Criticism Must Thrive
Even though I wrote this column saying Grand Theft Auto VI is impossible to review, there’s a very good chance that I’ll be the one reviewing it for PCMag. So, this might all just be an exercise in bracing myself. However, a generational game like this serves as an example of the perils of game criticism that affect the entire medium; problems we can solve if developers, publishers, writers, and players alike all understand each other’s perspectives a little better.
(Credit: Rockstar)
My dread over GTA VI discourse also has me slightly relieved about the game’s delay. It gives us more time before the shouting starts and gives me more time to play games from my backlog with far less baggage. I’ve been enjoying playing other overlooked games, from indie gems (Battle Suit Aces, Big Hops, Neon Inferno, and Viewfinder) to major releases (Rogue Prince of Persia, the System Shock remake, and Tomb Raider).
But when the time comes, my plan is to treat Grand Theft Auto VI like any other title, to play and discuss the game put in front of me. GTA VI, as a cultural object, may mean one thing, but GTA VI, the game, will most likely be about driving around between crime missions while listening to the radio. Love it, hate it, or feel something in between, we should all just tune out the noise and judge for ourselves how good we think that experience actually is. And in a civil fashion.
About Our Expert
Jordan Minor
Senior Writer, Software
Experience
My PCMag career began in 2013 as an intern. Now, I’m a senior writer, using the skills I acquired at Northwestern University to write about dating apps, meal kits, programming software, website builders, video streaming services, and video games. I was previously a senior editor at Geek.com and have written for The A.V. Club, Kotaku, and Paste Magazine. I’m the author of the gaming history book Video Game of the Year: A Year-by-Year Guide to the Best, Boldest, and Most Bizarre Games from Every Year Since 1977, and the reason everything you know about Street Sharks is a lie.
Read Full Bio
