Y'all, where did 2025 go? I remember sitting here at this same desk, telling everybody how I couldn't wait to get Grand Theft Auto 6 in my hands. That's just one indicator of how the year often unfolds way differently than we planned. In December, App Trigger is taking a look back at the stories that defined the year in gaming. Longtime readers will probably remember some of these, while hearing about them for the first time. Either way, join us as we walk down memory lane, won't you?
Look, this is no Star Citizen situation. We know Grand Theft Auto 6 will release at some point, and yes, 2026 is starting to feel a little more likely. Insider reports say that fall 2025 was always a reach. A delay of a whole calendar year seems to back that up. Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson believes GTA 6 will launch in November 2026, and comments from Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick also suggest it's in a state of simply being polished further.
Of course, there's another very interesting development. Rockstar's firing of 34 employees for "gross misconduct" is being framed in a couple of different ways. Rockstar accuses them of leaking details about the game. There certainly have been leaks, but Rockstar knows how hard it is to prove their source. The employees counter that the firings amounted to union busting. This may also be hard to prove conclusively.
That said, who knows how much insider info these employees have and what impact it could have? Thanks to the incredibly rapid rise of prediction markets, you can now place bets on a game's overall Metacritic rating. Former employees would know best of all where it might land. Sports leagues have been dealing with gambling-related issues for a while, and have not always been successful in combating them. I haven't seen anything on any of these prediction markets that prevents a former or current employee of a game company from placing a bet.
GTA is one of the games that now has a huge online economy. Anybody who knows the inner workings could game the system in ways that are scary to think about.
The good news is that despite early fears, there doesn't seem to be a GTA 6-sized hole in the holiday gaming market. The Nintendo Switch 2 is another blockbuster for Super Mario and Friends. Clair Obscur Expedition 33 has come from nowhere to be a huge hit that is winning all the awards right now.
Until we hear differently, I'll operate under the assumption that Grand Theft Auto 6 and all its majesty really will grace us in 2026.