EA / Rockstar GamesGrand Theft Auto 6 has been delayed to May 2026, and while every GTA fan let out a collective sigh, it’s set to be great news for Battlefield fans.
There’s a lot of hype for the next Battlefield, which is due before March 31, 2026. It returns to the modern setting and takes out a lot of what turned long-time players away from BF 2042, such as 128-player lobbies and Specialists.
A ton of ‘Battlefield 6’ gameplay footage has been doing the rounds, and players love what they’ve seen so far. The release date has always been up in the air, especially with GTA 6 looming, but that’s no longer the case. Rockstar’s next title is delayed to May 26 next year, which gives a strong chance for the new Battlefield to arrive in late 2025.
GTA delay opens door for next Battlefield’s release
EA confirmed in a February 2025 investors call that Battlefield’s release date depends on other major releases this year.
“We, of course, want to make sure that we launch that into a window where we can deliver on the fullness of the promise of what Battlefield can be and grow the community to a level that is commensurate with the size of the game that we’re making,” said CEO Andrew Wilson.
“I do believe that this year might be a nuance to year relative to competition,” he continued. “There may be some things happening in the year that may cause us to think differently about our launch timing.”
He didn’t specifically mention Grand Theft Auto 6, but it was by far the biggest game set for that window.
“If we got close to that time frame and believe that this wasn’t going to be a great window for us, then we would take a look at what an alternate window might be that would give us the appropriate time, energy and player acquisition opportunity for this Battlefield to be all that it needed to be,” he concluded.
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With GTA now out of the way until May 2026, it’s likely we’ll see Battlefield launch in its typical fall release window (as long as it’s ready). Battlefields have always launched in fall, directly competing with Call of Duty – Battlefield 2042 released only a week after Call of Duty: Vanguard.
We’ll need to wait and see if EA respond to the delay by announcing a release window for BF, but we expect to see a lot more games set for fall 2025 now that Grand Theft Auto 6 has been pushed back.