58 other games are out the same day as GTA 6 and we’ve not heard of any of them

Indie games like Volvy’s Adventure: Reslimed are targeting all the people who won’t be picking up GTA 6 in November (Devolver Digital) Indie publishers have explained their reasoning for launching games opposite GTA 6, which has far larger studios running scared. As we’ve highlighted before, September and October’s cramped video game release schedules are entirely due to publishers looking to avoid launching games anywhere near GTA 6. It’s not an exaggeration to call GTA 6 the most hotly anticipated video game ever made, so publishers don’t want to risk their games being overshadowed and not selling enough copies at launch. Yet by our count, there are no less than 58 video games scheduled to launch the exact same day as GTA 6 – November 19 – and they are all indie titles. The one with the highest profile is The Binding Of Isaac: Repentance + Online, an updated re-release of the original roguelike that has only been available for PC but is now coming to consoles. According to Steam’s own release schedule, though, there are 57 other games launching opposite GTA 6, most of which you’ve likely never heard of and appear to only be coming to PC. Expert, exclusive gaming analysis Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Based on the follower counts, the ones with the most interest among Steam owners are fantasy action role-player Lord Of Undead (3,193 follows) and anime deckbuilder Witch The Showdown (1,492 follows), which comes out in early access. This can likely be chalked up to how those games have public demos, so people have been able to sample what they’re offering before committing any interest. Seeing this many small studios opting to drop new games the same day as something as monumental as GTA 6 may seem bizarre, but it does make sense given they are all PC indie games. They are targeting entirely different demographics from GTA 6 and are also launching for a platform that Rockstar is skipping (for now). So, even if these games were to pick a different launch day, the GTA 6 crowd was probably never going to touch them anyway. A couple of studios have provided comments to GamesIndustry.biz to explain their reasoning, including Devolver Digital, which has been making a big show of releasing a game the same day as GTA 6, even after it was delayed twice. The game in question is Volvy’s Adventure: Reslimed, a 2D platformer that jokingly bills itself as ‘a spectacular remaster of the original remake of the unreleased action platformer starring the most famous video game mascot of all time.’ It also costs less than £5, making it a financially more attractive offer than GTA 6’s £69.99 price tag. According to Devolver’s marketing manager Robbie Patterson, GTA 6’s lack of a PC release is enough of a gap in the market, ‘even if GTA will be gobbling up all of the available bandwidth from a PR perspective. ‘It’s also an opportunity for us to have some fun with the idea that our plucky mascot is the only thing with enough clout to go up against the biggest video game launch in over a decade.’ Devolver does have the advantage of being a renowned indie publisher with an established audience, though, as opposed to Fairy Mount Games, which launches its debut title – strategy game Flame, Forest & Flood – on November 19 as well. Fairy Mount CEO Blazej Zywiczynski, however, says that its game offers everything GTA 6 doesn’t and argues it’s release poses fewer risks since it doesn’t have to meet the same mammoth expectations as GTA 6. ‘If the reported budget of $2 billion for GTA is true, they will have to sell over 28.5 million copies at $100 a pop in order to break even,’ says Zywiczynski. ‘For Flame, Forest & Flood, that number is well below 10,000 copies at a much lower price. ‘Even if every single owner of a current-gen console bought GTA 6, their ROI (return on investment) will barely reach 5x. Flame, Forest & Flood gets there with around 30k copies sold.’ Flame, Forest & Flood is described as a cosy strategy game that even your grandma can play (Fairy Mount Games) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. Arrow MORE: GTA 5 is finally on Nintendo Switch but Rockstar has already blocked it Arrow MORE: God Of War Laufey PS5 pre-orders are live and include exclusive armour Arrow MORE: The Witcher 3 remaster is everything I hoped it would be GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.