In case you didn’t notice by now, October is an exceptionally busy month for game releases. Why? Because every publisher and their nan is scrambling to avoid Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto VI in November.
There are, however, still some games launching in November, perhaps most notably Barbie Rewind The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Yes, while GTA 6 is set to upend reality as we know it on 19th November, Ocarina of Time will hit shelves a little earlier on 5th November.
It’s become a hot topic of conversation, with even SNL poking fun at the two games with its Weekend Update skit. Now, product growth expert Aakash Gupta, who previously worked as a Fortnite producer at Epic Games, has chimed in with some thoughts over on X (thanks, Games Radar+).
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“GTA 6 is so big that every major game publisher evacuated November. Except Nintendo, who scheduled a remake of the highest-rated game ever made, a 99 on Metacritic, two weeks in front of it.
“Which is why Link and the GTA 6 protagonist just shared a desk on Weekend Update. November 5 vs November 19 is gaming’s Barbenheimer, and even SNL’s writers can see the collision coming.”
He then goes on to explain why GTA’s ability to print money is forcing other games out of its path. However, Ocarina of Time has a few things going for it: its Switch 2 exclusivity, different audiences, and its exceptionally strong reputation in the industry.
“I watched this dynamic from inside Epic Games. Release calendars are a game of chicken, and when the biggest truck on the road picks a lane, everyone else swerves.
“Nintendo didn’t swerve. The math is clean. GTA 6 doesn’t run on their hardware, the audiences barely overlap, and a remake of the best-reviewed game in history gets two full weeks of oxygen before the asteroid lands. They’re the only company in the industry with a fanbase loyal enough to make that bet.
“And the crowd cheering louder for Zelda than the punchlines tells you how this ends. A room full of regular New Yorkers recognized a character from 1986 on sight. The biggest entertainment event of the decade is a video game launch, and SNL just went where the audience already is.”
That two-week gap really is key here. We’re of the mind that Ocarina of Time will comfortably dominate the industry upon its release in November, but even when GTA 6 launches soon after, the platform exclusivity will still afford Ocarina of Time some crucial space of its own.
Nintendo has clearly done its homework here and determined that GTA 6 won’t affect Ocarina of Time’s potential performance too much. Hell, there’s already a ton of hype surrounding it, with the limited edition 40th anniversary consoles and pro controllers selling out globally.
