A reader tries to make the idea of GTA 6 being a Switch 2 launch title seem plausible, based on Rockstar’s previous Nintendo collaborations.
As a gamer, you spend an awful lot of time waiting for things that you know are inevitable but which the companies responsible refuse to admit until the last minute. We all know the Switch 2 is coming within the next 12 months, but Nintendo barely acknowledges it has plans for ‘new platform’. Meanwhile, Rockstar has admitted it’s working on GTA 6 but has said absolutely nothing about it. In both cases we have no idea when they’re out or when they might be announced.
There’s next to no chance for the Switch 2 being revealed this year and only a small one for GTA 6, but since a lot of people have been having fun imagining what the Switch 2’s launch line-up might be I wanted to take it a step further: what if GTA 6 was part of it?
Rockstar and Nintendo get on better than you might think. There were GTA games on the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance, and Chinatown Wars was originally a DS exclusive… until it didn’t really sell that well and its touchscreen origins were quickly forgotten. But I don’t think that will put Rockstar off from supporting the Switch 2.
Rockstar has just released Red Dead Redemption for Switch and may have plans for Red Dead Redemption 2 as well, so clearly not only do Rockstar still get on with Nintendo but they’re happy to port games that aren’t very well suited to the Switch and unlikely to sell that well. I think this bodes well for GTA 6 making it onto the new console.
Of course, there is the question of whether the Switch 2 will be able to run the game. You’d imagine not, as I’m sure GTA 6 will push the PlayStation 5 and Xbox to their limits, but then I also would’ve said The Witcher 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2 were impossible for the original Switch and one of those has already happened.
So, let’s assume it is physically possible. There does seem a good chance that GTA 6 will be launching at roughly the same time as Switch. Most of the rumours point towards 2024 for GTA. Since it hasn’t been announced yet it’s clearly not early 2024, so autumn seems a good bet – which is also the most likely time for the Switch 2 to release.
People have been asking what games the Switch 2 could launch with, as it clearly can’t be a new mainline Zelda. A new 3D Mario or Donkey Kong does seem the obvious guess, or I quite like the suggestion that it could be Mario Kart 9. But the most you’re likely to get is one big name Nintendo exclusive and then maybe one or two minor ones, like 1-2-Switch.
They’re not going to make Metorid Prime 4 a launch game because it’s too niche to be a major draw and it would get ignored if it came out at the same time as an A-lister like Mario.
However, the console could do with some hardcore credentials, something that pushed the limits graphically and was mature rated. Something to prove the Switch 2 wasn’t just for kids and can play major third party games.
If Nintendo hasn’t at least been talking to Rockstar about the possibility I will be shocked. That doesn’t mean I’m saying it’s definitely going to happen, or even that it’s likely, but the fact that it doesn’t seem impossible is very exciting in terms of both GTA 6 and Nintendo’s new console.
By reader Tinsle
