11:02 AM EST, 11/14/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Take-Two Interactive Software's ( TTWO ) recent decision to again delay the release of "Grand Theft Auto VI" could intensify demand for its flagship franchise that is already at a fever pitch, analysts said.

The video-game maker and its subsidiary, Rockstar, on Nov. 6 pushed back the release of GTA VI by six months, the second such announcement this year. Originally scheduled to come out this holiday season, Take-Two said in May that it was delaying the release until May 2026. Now, fans of the iconic series will have to wait until November 2026.

Wall Street's initial reaction to the second delay was negative, as Take-Two shares fell 8.1% on the news, but the stock has since clawed back some of those losses. Most analysts expressed little concern over the delay's financial ramifications, while some even saw it as a boon as the launch date returns to the lucrative holiday shopping season.

"I feel like the second delay might actually put the game in a better time (frame) because the April-to-June period is a seasonal trough for engagement," Bloomberg Intelligence Analyst Nathan Naidu said in an interview with MT Newswires. "The second delay put it right at the start of the holiday season, which is not just beneficial for game products but any sort of product. Secondly, it's a season with higher activity from a player standpoint."

From 2022 to 2024, GTA V's peak player count in October through December was roughly 16-22% higher than in April through June, Naidu said in a note, citing data from SteamDB, which tracks usage by PC gamers. Over 40% of GTA gamers use a PC, Naidu added.

Though it may prove advantageous, neither Naidu, who maintained his forecast for 35-45 million first-year unit sales, nor Morningstar Analyst Matthew Dolgin said they thought the holiday-season launch was the sole reason for the delay.

"It takes a long time and can be agonizing to develop a game of the highest quality," Dolgin told MT Newswires via email. "I don't believe it was a strategic decision to delay, but I agree that not missing another holiday season is what was much more crucial than merely six months on the calendar. It seems to us that if they think that more time will lead to materially better quality, they'll take it."

Barring any more delay announcements, when GTA VI finally debuts next year, it will be just over 13 years since Take-Two released its predecessor, GTA V, a prolonged period compared to its previous releases and those of other iconic franchises like Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty. Historically, the wait time between GTA installments has typically been less than five years. The current decade-plus interim period is less about the need for extra development time than it is about the strength of GTA V, Dolgin said.

"(Take-Two) made a choice to wait on GTA VI because GTA V's ongoing sales and ability to sell online were so strong that it made more sense to continue reaping those sales than cannibalizing or cutting short GTA V so soon," he said.

Naidu said about 60% of gaming hours in 2024 went to games that were released at least six years earlier. The proliferation of online gaming has driven this phenomenon, as it allows developers to sell new maps, weapons and characters, which keeps gamers engaged and generates recurring revenue for the company.

Not every analyst sees the 13-year delay as wholly positive. In a note, MoffettNathanson Analyst Clay Griffin questioned the strategy, particularly if Take-Two ever wants to be taken private via a leveraged buyout like its competitor Electronic Arts did for a record $55 billion in October.

"The rationale for the EA (leveraged buyout), in part, was that EA had achieved enough stability in its cash generation to justify a more levered capital structure," Griffin said in a note. "Time will tell if that proves out. But by our math, in the last 3.5 years, Take-Two hasn't generated any cash from operations. At all."

Once GTA VI finally debuts, that dynamic will flip, and cash flow will outstrip earnings for a few years before the company returns to a multi-decade build-up, he said.

"That's not a bad thing, per se," Griffin said. "But if video game publishers aren't fit for the public market, it might make an LBO of (Take-Two) difficult."

GTA fans have demonstrated high levels of patience and loyalty to the franchise over the past 12 years. The only way for that to wane is if Take-Two fails on execution, as happened with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed earlier this year, Bloomberg Intelligence's Naidu said.

"Execution was just bad; the PC version had multiple crashes, and players were frustrated," Naidu said. "That's how you could kill the momentum. I feel like with how Take-Two and Rockstar are approaching this, they want to make sure the game is perfection before it's launched."

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