Grand Theft Auto VI: Meets the console abyss
Grand Theft Auto VI launches this month facing unprecedented demand weakness across the console ecosystem, necessitating an expected early move to PC release in Q1 2027. It will probably mark the end of an era of AAA console game development at this scale.
Sony’s PlayStation 5 continues to lag the previous console generation install rate, with weak sales last quarter even with GTAVI on the horizon.
Xbox is now an invisible platform outside the US market, and probably beyond recovery as a division of Microsoft. 2027 will decide its future, with management turmoil adding to a bleak outlook.
Related reports
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Tech & media quarterly: The AI fightback begins
22 September 2026A media fightback is emerging, as the creative industries respond to two years of AI disruption, and leading labs issue dire warnings against a laissez-faire approach.
A renewed push against tech’s “capture” of the value chain is visible across sectors from music to publishing.
Big tech earnings continue to blow past expectations. Those with credible gatekeeper roles and diversified revenues are benefitting this quarter.
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22 June 2026Tech companies are reinventing themselves in a once-in-a-generation revolution, with a sweeping reassessment of staff, and product makeovers working their way down to media partners.
Memory and other component costs will impact the 2027 upgrade cycle for consumer tech from PCs to phones—just as local processing of AI features is supposed to sell more devices.
There is a rationalisation of AI’s inevitability across all businesses, despite risks spanning privacy, legality and ‘misfiring’ agents. Media’s red lines on using AI to create content may be overtaken by platforms and creators.
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A radical change in hardware strategy and leadership will be the best solution for Microsoft to demonstrate a growth narrative following its acquisition of Activision. Gamescom this month may provide more clues.
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New gaming hardware will have an outsize influence in the year ahead, giving gamers unprecedented choice, starting with XR headsets and continuing to a likely new Nintendo Switch.
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