{"id":1091813,"date":"2026-01-25T04:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T04:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=505979"},"modified":"2026-01-25T04:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T04:24:15","slug":"can-anything-beat-gta-6-for-game-of-the-year-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/can-anything-beat-gta-6-for-game-of-the-year-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Can anything beat GTA 6 for Game of the Year 2025?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If the 2024 Game of the Year race<\/a> was defined by a relatively open field with no clear frontrunner<\/a>, then 2025 could not be more different \u2014 or so it seems at first glance. Grand Theft Auto 6<\/em><\/a>, scheduled for release in late 2025, is the juggernaut to beat and will remain so all year, whether anyone gets to play it in advance or not. Arriving 12 years after its predecessor, its brilliance is assumed \u2014 based on developer Rockstar Games\u2019 stellar track record \u2014 and its cultural hegemony is assured.<\/p>\n

In fact, the biggest threat to GTA 6<\/em> taking every GOTY prize<\/a> in 2025 is Rockstar\u2019s ability to finish it in time. Rockstar\u2019s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, has taken a cautious approach to the release date, and insists the game is on track<\/a> to hit its fall 2025 marker. But Rockstar has a long history of delays. GTA 5<\/em>\u2019s original 2013 release date <\/em>was pushed back from spring to September of that year, while Red Dead Redemption 2<\/em> was delayed twice, slipping a full year from late 2017 to October 2018. A slip into 2026 for GTA 6 <\/em>is far from unlikely, and would bust competition for Game of the Year 2025 wide open.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s assume, for the sake of argument, that Rockstar can break the habit of a lifetime and finish Grand Theft Auto 6<\/em> on time. Can anything beat it? It would be tough. But it\u2019s certainly not impossible.<\/p>\n

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