Games Inbox: How much disruption will GTA 6 launch cause?

Wednesday’s Inbox celebrates a banner year for Commodore Amiga nostalgia, as a reader is glad about the sudden influx of quality Star Wars games.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Global event
Reading about this US Army thing of giving people four days off to play GTA 6, it gives a hint of how much the game is going to disrupt the whole of the Western world when it comes out. Us gamers can imagine, but I think the closest comparison is going to be the first few weeks of Pokémon Go, when it seemed like everyone on the planet was playing it.

Of course, the difference here is that GTA 6 is hyper violent and costs £70, so not only will Rockstar be absolutely raking it in, but we are going to have non-stop stories about how playing the game turns you into a murderous monster. We got all that with the previous games anyway, so now it’s just going to be that turned to 11.

I’m looking forward to the game as much as anyone, but I have to echo the hope that its success will make more companies try and create clones. The Simpsons Hit & Run really isn’t good enough, but I’d love to see something similar to Sleeping Dogs or The Getaway again.
Mortim

Peaks and troughs
So what you’re telling me is that 2026 has seen the biggest Star Wars flop ever at the movies and two of the best games? I’m very happy to hear about the games but couldn’t they have spread them out a bit more? A strategy game and a racer aren’t exactly the same thing but still, we’ve only got so much time and money to spare.

What worries me though is that they won’t sell because they’re Star Wars, rather than it being a help. The franchise is not what it was and if these games are hits, I think it will be in spite of the licence, not because of it.
Cobalt84

Welcome competition
I kind of like to see publishers get into a harmless bit of trolling, in a funny way it shows they care. Activision and EA just seem like faceless monoliths most of the time but at least when they make Battlefield 6 free at the same time as the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta you know there’s a bit of competition still in them, it’s not just gentlemen’s agreements carving up the audience between them.

Personally, I’m not interested in either of them. I find online multiplayer to competitive for shooters nowadays and even if the Call Of Duty campaign gets good again I’d basically be buying only a third of a game for full price. But good luck to those that are still into it.
Karg

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Amiga renaissance
It seemed to be a quiet one, but Worms released in late 1995 and its 30th anniversary came and went.

The Director’s Cut came even later in 1997, as a final hurrah for the Amiga. Sadly, with the market in severe decline it didn’t sell well.

The developer of the game has released a free expansion pack to celebrate containing 40 new levels, new samples, new teams, and enhancements to the game.

The free pack can be found here, where a copy of the director’s cut is required.

This year has been great for the Amiga retro scene. With this, the upcoming A1200, and Metro Siege. It’s nice to see the classic Miggy getting some love.
Commodore Fan

GC: We’d never heard of Metro Siege before now, but we are keeping our eye on this homage to Mega-Lo-Mania.

1% club
Every time I hear about Star Citizen I can’t believe it’s even real. $1,000+ for a spaceship? Is this a game that only billionaires play or something? Although, if they did, you’d think they’d be able to pay for someone to make it properly.

How anything like this can get $1 billion in crowdfunding is complete beyond my understanding, like it genuinely makes me question reality. I would be fascinated to know if anyone reading this had paid into it and what they think of the latest controversy.
Grackle

Under pressure
I’m not as down on Bethesda as some people (I even liked Starfield well enough) so while I do agree they’ve been mismanaged since Fallout 4 I’m always interested in what they’re doing, and I almost always buy their games.

My main worry at the moment is the quality of what they’re working on right now. They’ve lost a ton of people in the last Microsoft layoffs and they’ve obviously been told to hurry up with The Elder Scrolls 6 and, I would assume, all things Fallout.

I can’t fault Microsoft on that. If it was left to Bethesda we wouldn’t have got Fallout 5 until halfway through the next decade, but now they’re expected to make world-beating new games with a skeleton crew, all of which are worried for their jobs and they don’t have enough time to get everything done.

It sounds like the absolute worst working conditions and the worst thing is it’s probably just as bad at other Microsoft developers and places like EA and wherever else has had layoffs.

You can’t constantly be telling people, through your actions, that they are disposable garbage and expect them to make a good game. If The Elder Scrolls 6 turns out as good as we all hope it’ll be a minor miracle.
Joost

Business transaction
I’m watching Twitch and currently on the left side of the screen, there are six streamers playing Mortal Shell 2. Would this be how small studios get the word out instead of paying a fortune for TV spots and YouTube ads?

I know they pay for sponsored gameplay sometimes but there’s loads playing right now.
Bobwallett

GC: When you see that happen it’s almost always paid-for sponsorship.

Sign of life
I can’t help noticing that we’re more than halfway through August now and there’s still no sign of a Nintendo Direct for the Zelda: Ocarina Of Time remake. Unless we get an annoucement on Wednesday it’s not happening this week and next week is Gamescom, and I don’t think Nintendo would want to muddy the waters by doing anything then – especially not with the GTA 6 thing happening on Netflix as well.

So then we’re looking at September before we get even a hint of what the game is or what it looks like (no, two seconds of Link sleeping does not count). I can’t think of a single other Nintendo game that was this secretive. Heck, I can’t really think of any other game that was this secretive, not compared to when it’s out.

A part of me enjoys the irony that they’re doing this for a remake, where technically we know everything about already, but it’s just so odd and, I’ve got to say, frustrating.

My guess is they won’t do anything until after the release of Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave on September 17, because they won’t want to take attention away from that and make it seem like a second stringer.

But they wouldn’t have had to worry about that if they’d just unveiled the game normally in the summer, then nobody would care nearly as much about the wait for new info. I know it’s Nintendo, and this is their thing, but this feels a lot more like trolling than usual.
Gascoigne

Inbox also-rans
As much as I love the two Ori games I’m not sure if I really want another one made by a different developer. The series already had a proper ending as far as I’m concerned.
Hugo

Interesting review of Hell Let Loose: Vietnam but it sounds like everything I hate about Battlefield but even worse. I do not feel I would be of any help in a 100 person battle. I’d just get lost and frustrated.
Lemondonna

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

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