Several Major Publishers To Delay Game Releases To Avoid GTA 6, Says A ReportWe don't need a fortune teller to tell one thing that's for sure going to happen in the future: GTA 6 is going to be a massive hit to create an earthquake in the industry when it arrives in the fall of this year. And EA is not alone in considering delaying their upcoming title, the next Battlefield, due to the unknown release date of Rockstar's highly-anticipated title.A recent report from The Game Business has brought up this topic, with several major video game publishers reportedly considering delaying their own game launches to avoid, you know, showing up around the same timeframe as GTA 6 does.This timeframe has been called "the blast zone," a boss from a studio who is the developer behind one of the top 10 live-service games told TGB. It refers to the three to four weeks before and after its release like a "huge meteor" which publishers want to avoid.The boss of one of the world's biggest game publishers said, "Rockstar games always suck a lot of money and, more importantly, time out of the market. We don't want to be anywhere near that. We are working up multiple different plans for our titles." Among the fierce competition in the industry for more attention from players, GTA 6 just makes what is already difficult even worse. A senior exec added, "Even without GTA, it's immensely difficult to find free time for new games to shine. Time is the real scarcity for us, not money. Its tough out there."While fall covers a few months, it certainly includes October and November. According to a European boss of a AAA publisher, it would be unwise to release games at the end of October or the beginning of November. "If it arrives in late October, that means you either have to launch early which a lot of people seem to be doing with the recent glut of summer release dates. Or go later, putting you up against the Black Friday sales."Reading here, you might have a question in mind are the developers and publishers overreacting? Is it really going to be that bad, or are they just being too nervous? Well, let the data talk. As shared by TGB, when GTA 5 launched in September 2013, it set a record as the biggest entertainment launch ever. In the US, it sucked 50% of all game revenue that month, even though it was released in the middle. In the UK, it took up 89% of all games sold and 94% of revenue in its debut week. Just as another developer said: "There"s no point swimming against the current. We just need to prepare to win players back once the excitement has started to die down." This makes all these concerns and considerations reasonable.Of course, with all these worries on the table, the publishers aren't going to simply let it be. As said, they've come up with various plans to cater to different situations. Yet, although Rockstar says GTA 6's release is on track, things are not 100% sure yet. The same European boss couldn't help but let out their anxiety: "If we move out to 2025, what if Rockstar do, too? Will we have time to push our game up? Or will we have to delay further? It's stressful."Do you think it's understandable for publishers to set schedules according to the big title's release time? Share your thoughts with us.