GTA VI and the Next Chapter

The more I look back at previous GTA releases, the more they seem to mark the chapters in the games industry. By the time the next game arrives, the landscape has shifted beyond recognition.

GTA V launched before Fortnite, before the Nintendo Switch, before creator-led discovery became central to game marketing and before live service dominated much of the industry’s thinking. Looking back, it now feels inseparable from that chapter of gaming.

As Gamescom gets underway, players will understandably be focused on GTA instead. The industry itself, however, will be watching something slightly different.

While Rockstar dominates the headlines, hundreds of developers and publishers will be putting forward their vision of what comes next. Every Gamescom introduces new games and ideas, but every so often it also offers an early glimpse of where the industry is heading. The biggest announcement may be GTA, but some of the most interesting signals are often found in what happens around it.

For much of the last decade, it felt as though everyone was searching for the same answers. This time, I’m not so sure. There are signs that the next chapter will be less about convergence and more about specialisation, with different genres, business models and ways of reaching players succeeding on their own terms rather than competing to become the industry’s default.

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See also: Case Studies

That may prove to be completely wrong. Turning points rarely announce themselves while you’re living through them.

Gamescom isn’t where a new era begins. It’s often where you first start to recognise its outline.

Whether this year’s show turns out to be one of those moments, we’ll only know in hindsight.

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