Games Inbox: GTA 6 Pre-Orders, God of War’s Future, and More
The Monday letters page asks when GTA 6 pre-orders will start, as one reader tries to imagine the long-term future of the God Of War franchise. Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in the discussions, email gamecentral@metro.co.uk.
Pre-Paid Gaming
So we are officially almost seven months away from the release date of Grand Theft Auto 6, and I’ve been pondering a question that’s been on my mind: When will the pre-orders go live?
In case anyone has been living under a rock, 007 First Light and Resident Evil Requiem are available to pre-order on Amazon. They both release in 2026, the same year as GTA 6.
Since Capcom and IO Interactive have taken steps to open pre-orders, it is rather bizarre that Rockstar seems to be maintaining a sense of silence. We are three months away from January and the fact is we’ve seen two trailers, Jason speaking more than one word, and Lucia rocking a yellow dress — but we still don’t know when the Internet will break with GTA 6 pre-orders setting records.
I’d like to think perhaps December will be the month, because the first trailer released in the same month a few years ago, so that would make sense from that perspective. It would be five months from the release date, so that’s my overall estimation, unless it is somehow delayed once more.
You never know with Rockstar, because they love their radio silence.
Shahzaib Sadiq
GC: We’re not sure why it matters. Are you worried they’ll run out of stock?
On the Cost and Audience of Consoles
I’m not sure if PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles or the kinds of games they offer still exist in the way they did a few years ago. I’m certain I would’ve been an old man before I could afford one. That £90 price cut just underlines how stupidly expensive these things are, making it tough for parents to afford them for their kids, let alone for kids to buy them or their games themselves.
Another issue is that Sony and Microsoft don’t really make games aimed at children anymore. They gave up around the Xbox 360 era and, even when Sony occasionally releases kid-friendly titles like Astro Bot and Ratchet & Clank, the audience isn’t what it used to be. If you’re not playing Nintendo games, it’s basically Lego tie-ins or nothing. So it’s no wonder the gaming audience is aging.
Garrick Clamshell 4 Lyfe
Nintendo Retro Consoles and Legacy Gaming
I’m not very interested in a PlayStation 2 mini-console, because they’d probably never be able to license everything needed, and much of it is already easily available. However, what I would be very interested in is a new model of the DS/3DS.
Even if these games were put on the Virtual Console, as they have been in the past, they just don’t play right without two screens and a touchscreen. Even the Switch would have to fudge it — and that’s only in portable mode. There’s basically no way to play these games well on a TV.
A console that looked like a 3DS and could play all DS and 3DS games would be great. Throw in Game Boy support, and you’d have the ultimate Nintendo portable retro console. I’d buy it.
Taylor Moon
Resident Evil Character Focus
I’m not sure why everyone is so keen to have Leon in Resident Evil Requiem, considering he’s had two good outings recently. Chris was in the last two games too (even though I find Chris boring and don’t care), and Claire featured in Resident Evil 2.
In my opinion, the only major character that hasn’t had a quality outing recently is Jill. Resident Evil 3 was easily the worst of the remakes, and Jill was the best thing in it. I think she’s definitely the one who should get the next starring or co-starring role.
There’s so much talk of Leon that I imagine he’s probably the lead in the new game, but personally, I think it would be a bit of a shame.
Karl
Paper Mario and Nintendo’s RPG Roots
While most people think Animal Crossing is going to be Nintendo’s next big game — and they probably aren’t wrong — I wonder how long it’ll take them to get round to Paper Mario.
Between the remakes of Super Mario RPG and The Thousand-Year Door, it seems like Nintendo has been wanting to emphasize the series’ role-playing roots lately — something fans have been hoping for years.
Surely they wouldn’t do both those remakes and then not follow up with a new game? I know it’s Nintendo we’re talking about, but one thing they don’t do is waste money.
My personal hope is that they make a combination of the two games — with something that plays like Super Mario RPG but looks like Paper Mario. Really make it a proper role-player where you need to grind. But, most importantly, make it funny. The Origami King was a step in the right direction, but it was still less funny than games 20 years older.
Gency
New IPs and Existing Franchises
The Readers Feature on Sunday was wrong to say Sony has been terrible for new IP. Since 2013, when PlayStation 4 launched, they’ve put out:
- Knack
- Driveclub
- Bloodborne
- Tearaway
- The Order: 1886
- Helldivers
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- Astro Bot
- Days Gone
- Concrete Genie
- Dreams
- Blood And Truth
- Ghosts Of Tsushima
- Destruction All-Stars
- Returnal
- Upcoming titles: Wolverine, Saros, and Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
They also greenlit a bold and fresh take on one of their biggest IPs with God of War (2018), demonstrating, like Zelda: Breath of the Wild a year earlier, that fresh ideas can easily come from existing IP.
Simundo
Free Trial Options for EA Sports FC 26
In response to the question of whether EA Sports FC 26 is a day one purchase, here’s what I do every year: I get a one-month subscription to EA Play for £5.99, which gives me access to a 10-hour game trial. I think new subscribers might even get the first month free.
The 10-hour demo lets you get a good feel for whether the latest FC is worth buying.
NLPN2k
The Future of God of War
I love how we still don’t know where the next God Of War will be set because some YouTuber can’t be bothered to spend 30 seconds googling what Egyptian swords look like.
It really annoys me that such people have all the inside gossip. It doesn’t matter much, though, since most assume Egypt will be the next setting because it has the most well-known and interesting set of gods that hasn’t been explored yet.
But what happens after that? As a reader mentioned previously, after Egypt you start getting into more obscure religions, which might become repetitive.
I’m fine with Egypt as the setting, but I think the next one after that has to be modern day. Although, given how long these games take to make, they’re just kicking the problem down the road.
If Egypt gets at least two games like the Norse arc, you’re talking about 15 years before the next major setting is released. By then, most senior staff involved with the current games will likely have moved on, making it “someone else’s problem.”
It’s a weird new reality, especially realizing that it took only five years to release the original three games — and that included the jump from PlayStation 2 to 3. Things were simpler back then.
A lot has improved, but the rate at which games are made now is so slow that it can’t be healthy.
Gamma
Technical Tidbits
Do you really have to copy and paste every time you write “Yotei”? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that letter on my English keyboard.
NatorDom
GC: No, we added it to our word processor dictionary, along with “Okami.” Although, if anyone knows how to get Japanese accents using an English keyboard, we’d be interested to hear about it.
On PlayStation 5 Discounts
I’m not going to lie, £90 is a lot to take off the price of a PlayStation 5. But why only for two weeks? If they can afford to cut the cost now, why not wait until I can actually afford it?
Camel
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 leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.
https://metro.co.uk/2025/09/22/games-inbox-less-kids-playing-video-game-consoles-24226358/
