GTA 6 and the Nintendo Switch 2 could help the video game market "get back on a growth trajectory" if they both release in 2025, says analyst

GTA 6 reveal trailer screenshot showing a young blonde woman standing near a sunny rooftop pool, wearing a white and gold bikini
(Image credit: Rockstar Games)

As fans on either end of the video game market wait patiently for some of this year's possible big releases like Grand Theft Auto 6 and the Nintendo Switch 2, veteran analyst and Circana games lead Mat Piscatella wagers the two launching in 2025 could spark record sales growth in gaming.

Speaking to the Limit Break Network in a recent interview, Piscatella explains why Rockstar Games' long-awaited title and Nintendo's new handheld console releasing in the same year could be huge for the video game market. "If those two things do happen this year," says the analyst, "and they do meet the expectations going into this year, I think you're looking at low to mid-single-digit percentage growth in overall market spending on video game products."

It might not sound like much to those of us less well-versed in the financial side of games, but it'd actually be quite a major jump for the market. "Now, that doesn't sound like a lot but it would result in record spending on the consumer side, it would get the industry back to growth over that 2021 peak that we've previously seen," Piscatella continues, "and most importantly … it gets investment flowing back into the game space."

"SIGNIFICANT opportunities": Mat Piscatella on gaming industry recovery | Hit The Limit Break - YouTube
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Such growth would be especially monumental as the market has only "held relatively stable" since that 2021 peak, according to Piscatella. "We had a market that had been growing for decades all of a sudden peak and wasn't growing anymore after 2021 – and while the market's held relatively stable to those highs, it hasn't exceeded them." He points out that it's not only consumers who would benefit from the market's potential growth but also investors and developers.

"These are a couple of things that will help that market get back on a growth trajectory and [there's] nothing investors love more than the line going up and to the right. If your line is not going up and to the right, as an industry, it's really tough to get those dollars flowing in – because once those dollars start flowing in, all of a sudden you have more games coming out, you have more teams supported, and then that kind of self-sustains into another growth trajectory – which is what I'm hoping to see."

It sounds like GTA 6 and the Switch 2 could have quite an impact on the video game market should they both release in 2025. There's no telling what will happen just yet, however, but analysts in Japan previously speculated that a possible June launch is in the cards for the Switch 2, and a trailer confirming a 2025 release for GTA 6 dropped at the tail end of 2023 with confirmation of a fall window dropping later on.

Need more to look forward to? Here are the biggest new games for 2025 and beyond.

Anna Koselke
Staff Writer

After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.

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