Popverse's top stories

• DC Comics cancels Red Hood comic book series
• Simon Kinberg on writing X-Men movies, producing Glenn Powell's The Running Man remake, and co-creating Star Wars Rebels [Popversations]
• Better angels and online demons: A trip down the rabbit hole of Downton Abbey fandom

One of the biggest bits of gaming news to drop in the last week was that Grand Theft Auto VI, the long-in-development sequel to one of the best-selling and most profitable games of all time, had been delayed (again). This time the release date was moved from 2025 to May 26, 2026. This was bad news for GTA fans who have been waiting for this game for over a decade, but it was apparently good news for EA, who suddenly saw that their upcoming Battlefield game would be releasing a full two months clear of GTA VI.

Andrew Wilson, the CEO of EA, confirmed that the next Battlefield would come out by March 2026 during the company’s financial results call with investors. “I think now, without going too far, we believe that window is clearer than before and we feel very good about launching Battlefield in [financial year] 2026.”

The delay of Grand Theft Auto VI to May 2026 is a boon for many companies like Nintendo, who won’t have to compete with what will undoubtedly be one of the biggest game releases of the year while they are trying to promote the Switch 2 as the must-have item of the 2025 Holiday Season. However, it is unlikely to influence any developers to bring their launches forward if they weren’t already ready for a 2025 release date. Because of the long development times for games, Wilson admits that it will be “hard to get ready and take advantage of [what] might be otherwise a less competitive window than we may have anticipated earlier.”

The gaming industry has come a long way since Pong blew all our minds in the 70s. We've got everything you need to know about the next big thing in games. Of course, Grand Theft Auto VI is going to be the big game of 2026, but there are plenty of other games coming out between now and then. Here is our starter guide for every gamer:

• All upcoming games in 2025 and beyond
• Gamify My Life, our weekly gaming column designed
• Popverse Picks: The best Assassin's Creed protagonists
• How to play every GTA game in order
• Why the GTA 6 budget isn't as crazy as you think
• The Magic: The Gathering x Spider-Man crossover set wouldn't exist without the Spider-Verse

And be sure to check Popverse regularly for the latest gaming news.