GTA 6 Officially Only Eighth Most Anticipated Game In One Major Region

Published Aug 24, 2026, 3:14 AM EDT Sam Woods is TheGamer’s Senior Reporter. He’s been in games journalism since 2020 and has undertaken a variety of roles in that time. These have included roles such as SEO Editor, Managing Editor at DualShockers, and Global Head of Gaming, and he's also been seen on the BBC. He was promoted to the Senior Reporter position in 2025 following a series of high-quality reports and exclusives for TheGamer. Since 2020, Sam has written over 2,500 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game. Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, got context around some AI drama, and revealed how Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games. Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on more than one occasion. He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times. Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises. Sign in to your TheGamer account Grand Theft Auto 6 fever is reaching a fever pitch. Over the past few days, almost a dozen gameplay videos have surfaced of Rockstar's next title, all just days before it's set for a grand reveal in a groundbreaking Netflix partnership. These leaks have been evidence that those in the West are ready for the game. However, while we're clearly excited, players in Japan have voted in a new poll that revealed GTA 6 is only the eighth most anticipated title in the country. Japanese Gamers Have Seven Games They Are Looking Forward To More Than Grand Theft Auto 6 Rcokstar Western and Japanese gamers have always had different tastes in games. This has been evident since the dawn of the medium, and recent studies have confirmed this. One case study completed by two university students examined what the two cultures value most, while a second piece of research by Science Direct explored the differences in digital game experiences. This is further evidenced by the results of Famitsu's weekly poll, which had GTA 6 all the way down in eighth place. Below, you can find the full results of the poll (via Sevengamer): Pokémon Winds & Waves - 567 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - 424 Persona 4 Revival - 387 Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave - 371 Persona 6 - 329 Dragon Quest Monsters 4 - 228 Final Fantasy VII Revelation - 217 Grand Theft Auto 6 - 212 Onimusha: Way of the Sword - 207 Xenoblade Genesis - 193 You can bet that in any Western country, Grand Theft Auto 6 is in the top spot, but in Japan, it's far from it. The top seven games are, notably, all by Japanese developers and lean heavily into the RPG genre. In fact, every game other than GTA 6 is from a Japanese studio. Interestingly, the top five are completely dominated by Nintendo and Atlus, with the former taking three spots and the latter two. Persona 6, my most anticipated title, is still undated, but given that it's been 10+ years in the making, its high ranking comes as no surprise. It's unclear whether these new GTA 6 leaks have impacted the game's rating. Theories that this new leaker had been caught were quickly disproven over the weekend, with more gameplay footage trickling out. As many as ten separate leaks have been released now, leaving the game's development team "frustrated and exhausted", but despite subpoenas issued against the likes of Microsoft and Discord, Cyberleek, as they are known, is no closer to being caught. Systems Released November 19, 2026 ESRB Rating Pending - Likely Mature 17+ Developer(s) Rockstar Games Publisher(s) Rockstar Games Engine Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) Genre(s) Action, Adventure