The creator of A Plague Tale, Asobo, has described Grand Theft Auto 6 as an “ogre,” pointing to how much it’s shaping the release calendar for 2026. That same year also marks the debut of their own game, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, scheduled for late August—only a few months before GTA 6 arrives.
We’ve already seen how strongly GTA 6 has influenced publishing plans in recent weeks, as companies have moved their releases to September or February 2027 to avoid its November launch. Still, GTA 6’s impact has been hovering over the industry like a Star Destroyer ever since it floated a tentative autumn 2025 release date, and each delay has only made its presence more noticeable. According to Asobo, working around that effect isn’t really optional when putting out a game this year.
“During development, we kept thinking, okay—our release window could be this year, and then there’s GTA,” Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy producer Eric Chort told me in our recent conversation. “Studios around the world were weighing it. Once you factor in that GTA is coming, you understand that from a marketing standpoint, in terms of player attention and game time, GTA is the ogre—it’s the biggest player.
“So you try to adapt, you… attempt to sidestep it. But this year, we’re also seeing that there are simply many solid games—or at least a lot of strong releases—so we think, all right, that’s the state of the industry, and we aim to put out the best possible game.
“For the studio, that’s the right approach,” Chort continued. “You want to make the most authentic game you can with the resources you’ve got—something that reflects who you are, so it stands apart. Do everything you can to ensure it’s different from the rest. After that, you’ve done your best, and you just have to wait and see. Still, there’s no denying it’s a strange year to launch a game.”
The wider consequence of this GTA 6 avoidance—effectively the “Great GTA 6 Avoidance”—is that September and February have become much tougher for new releases, largely because they’re getting so packed. With that in mind, we’ve already watched some titles, such as Phantom Blade Zero, shift their dates closer to GTA 6 in a bid to find more breathing room (and, at least outwardly, with a calm kind of confidence). I expect more changes before September rolls around.
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy launches on 27th August, putting it right at the start of this busy stretch. Based on the gameplay session I had a few weeks ago, it seems to be coming together very well. Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy also takes a noticeable different path from the two earlier Plague Tales, particularly in its focus on combat and its new protagonist, Sophia. Even so, it still feels like a Plague Tale in many important ways. I’m optimistic.