2026 will be the year of Grand Theft Auto 6, but one game might be bold enough to challenge it. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake still lacks a release date, and if it launches this holiday season, then it could be 2026’s Barbenheimer.
There have already been some Game of the Year contenders this year, like Pokémon Pokopia, Mina the Hollower, and Forza Horizon 6. There’s also a packed schedule of high-profile releases still to come, like Marvel’s Wolverine, The Duskbloods, and Gears of War: E-Day, but 2026 looks like it’ll be the year of GTA 6 unless the Ocarina of Time remake manages to dethrone it.
Game Developers Are Avoiding GTA 6
No game has even shaped a release schedule more than Grand Theft Auto 6. August through October are absolutely jam-packed with games, but developers are actively avoiding the month of November, when GTA 6 is set to release. Some games, like the upcoming Fable, have even pushed their release date back to 2027.
The overcrowded schedule is going to have several knock-on effects, the first of which is that the late Summer/early Autumn months are now filled with games releasing against each other. While launching alongside Grand Theft Auto 6 is a dangerous prospect, they’re still going to be competing with tons of other games.
Another major issue is that the holiday season is now extremely bare. Usually, November is one of the most profitable months for game releases, as people buy titles and consoles as Christmas presents. The fact that consoles and PCs are now way more expensive due to rising memory costs is already going to hit the industry hard.
With only one major game confirmed for November 2026, there are fewer opportunities for people to spend money on other titles. However, Nintendo has yet to reveal a release date for its upcoming Ocarina of Time remake, and the Zelda franchise is one of few series big enough to go head-to-head with GTA.
Ocarina of Time vs. GTA 6 Could Be 2026’s Barbenheimer
During the June 2026 Nintendo Direct, it was confirmed that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is coming to the Switch 2 this year, but the game doesn’t have a release date yet. 2026 is already halfway over, and if the Zelda remake were launching in the next few months, Nintendo would have shown off footage and opened up pre-orders already.
The fact that there’s no release date suggests that it could be a holiday season release. If that’s true, then Link is pitting the Master Sword against its greatest challenge yet: a new Grand Theft Auto.
In any other year, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake would have stolen the attention from every other title. However, 2026 is not like every other year, and the industry as a whole is scrambling to stay away from Grand Theft Auto 6, lest their new game be devoured in the encroaching black hole that’s going to steal all the attention and money from gamers worldwide.
That said, Ocarina of Time and GTA 6 are very different games, and they’re releasing on different systems. Grand Theft Auto 6 is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, while The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive.
Both companies may cross-promote via friendly social media posts, like Barbie and Oppenheimer did in 2023. Something similar actually happened back in 2020, when Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal launched near each other, and fans got to have fun comparing them, with the developers even getting in on the action.
Nintendo is absolutely brave enough to launch the Ocarina of Time remake against GTA6, and for those who don’t care about games where people steal cars and rob banks, it could be an oasis in the deluge of crime gameplay to come. If Nintendo and Take-Two/Rockstar are smart, they’ll reference the rival launches, as a modern game using cutting-edge tech faces off against a classic from the old days that’s reborn on current hardware.
Grand Theft Auto 6
- Released
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November 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Rating Pending – Likely Mature 17+
- Developer(s)
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Rockstar Games
- Publisher(s)
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Rockstar Games
- Engine
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Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE)
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer
- Prequel(s)
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Grand Theft Auto 5