GTA 6 Could Give Modern Warfare 4 a Boost, Activision Says

Ever think a giant game like GTA 6 could actually help other games? Activision seems to think so.

In an interview with The Game Business, Activision chief marketing officer Tyler Bahl said that GTA 6, launching this November, will drive more people to gaming overall. That rising tide, he believes, could lift all ships, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. "Well, no offense to Zelda, but [GTA and COD] are the two biggest games of the year. And more people coming in to the dashboards, more people taking the dust off their Xbox or PlayStation and playing again, is going to be more eyeballs for us overall," Bahl said. He was referencing Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake for Switch 2, which launches on November 5 and is expected to be a huge hit alongside MW4 and GTA 6.

Ubisoft isn't worried about GTA 6 either. CEO Yves Guillemot said that when a big game like GTA 6 comes out, it helps everyone in the industry. In fact, Ubisoft's Rainbow Six Siege is planning to debut new content right around the time GTA 6 launches.

Bahl also pointed out a key differentiator for Call of Duty: spending time with friends. He thinks this will hold true for MW4 even with GTA 6 arriving just a few weeks after MW4 releases on October 23. "When we look at our research and say, 'What is the most exciting things about our games? Is it the gunplay?' It's actually spending time with friends. And so, we stand on our own [in that regard]," he said. "If more people are talking about games, if there's more press around it, that's going to be good for everybody, not just us."

MW4's campaign unlocks on October 16 for preorder customers, and the full game—including campaign, DMZ, and multiplayer—launches for everyone on October 23. GTA 6 arrives 27 days later on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

So, instead of cannibalizing sales, GTA 6 might actually bring more players into the ecosystem, benefiting games like Modern Warfare 4. It's a rising tide scenario that publishers are counting on.

What do you think? Will GTA 6 help or hurt other big releases this fall? Let us know in the comments!