This rumor meant something different to the fans and to the people in the industry.
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Rockstar has killed the hype train some fans wanted to make about Grand Theft Auto 6.
The Big News From Yesterday
Yesterday, fans found two job listings for Rockstar New York. One of those listings referred to GTA 6 as the “largest game launch in history.”
This led multiple outlets to report about Rockstar talking about the game as the largest launch in history. While this won’t be confirmed until launch day, this is the unanimous prediction among industry analysts.
So it may seem like a show of braggadocio by Rockstar. But this is an accurate read on the game and its developer’s status and potential.
Some fans wanted to believe that this was the start of Rockstar’s marketing hype machine for the game, or that they plan to make a huge announcement around it. As we argued, this actually looks bad for Rockstar.
Why This News Was Potentially Bad, Not Good, For GTA And Rockstar
If you think about it, why would you tell job applicants you need more people for the “largest game launch in history?” That made it sound like they don’t have enough people to make the game on time.
That may not be how fans wanted to read it. But with the amount of money at stake, the video game industry would take that seriously.
It’s not just rival game companies worried about releasing their games at the same time. It would also be a problem for retailers if it got delayed again.
Let’s not kid ourselves here. That delayed announcement had tangible consequences to retailers and other parts of the game industry.
This is why we believe Rockstar decided to nip it in the bud.
Rumor Is Over
GTA 6+, one of the many Twitter users who saw this news and hyped it, posted this today:
Rockstar Games has REMOVED the mention of Grand Theft Auto 6 in their job listing.
While we will report on news and rumors about the game, we understand that Rockstar wants to keep control over their messaging.
Right now, Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two wants to sell Borderlands 4 and their annual sports games. It’s not that they don’t want to sell GTA 6, but they do have other games.
We should also remember the new normal of video game marketing. All these companies are acting on the research that’s revealed that marketing games is most effective in the two weeks before the game launches.
They did share trailers on the buildup to launch. But fans are unrealistic to expect Rockstar to start doing that marketing weekly for a full year.
With all that said, you can trust GameRanx to share whatever news and rumor we do find about GTA 6 from now until its launch.
