A studio is so relaxed about Grand Theft Auto VI that it is sending its own players off to go play it. Bulkhead, the team behind the shooter Wardogs, is closing down for all of December, with a simple message to fans: go enjoy the biggest game of the year while we rest. Bulkhead is welcoming the launch and encouraging its players to enjoy it.
The break is a reward. Bulkhead CEO Joe Brammer told Edge the whole studio has earned time off after launching Wardogs into early access, where the shooter has already sold three million copies. His reasoning is that the team worked hard, the game is out and everyone deserves a rest. "Go play GTA 6, we need to detox," he said.
Brammer put it more bluntly in the same interview. He wants players to know they can, in his words, "fuck off in December" and go play GTA 6 instead of grinding Wardogs and filing bug reports the team would only get to in January. It is a developer sending its own community to a rival game and calling that a good thing.
This is a real change of mood.
Not long ago, studios treated the launch as a disaster to dodge. Microsoft was scheduling its entire 2026 around avoiding it, while an anonymous developer mapped out plans around a possible delay so its own release would not get crushed. Publishers fled the calendar and the fear was that nothing could share a month with Rockstar Games and survive.
Other responses have been more welcoming. A Mass Effect developer is celebrating the launch for a bittersweet reason, finding a bright side after a rough year at the studio and Helldivers 2 quietly skipped its November updates in a move fans have speculated may have something to do with the release of GTA 6 in the same month. Bulkhead is the newest name on that list, telling players outright to go play and make Leonida their playground.
How the industry is reacting to GTA 6
Studio or company | What they did | The mood |
|---|---|---|
Bulkhead (Wardogs) | Gave the whole team December off and asked players to enjoy GTA 6 | Embrace |
Sucker Punch (Ghost of Yotei) | Celebrated the delay that spared it a clash | Embrace |
Arrowhead (Helldivers 2) | Reportedly skipped its November updates | Fan Speculation / Embrace |
A Mass Effect developer | Found a bright side in the launch | Embrace |
Burger Motorsports | Gave staff the launch day off | Embrace |
Microsoft | Scheduled its 2026 around avoiding GTA 6 | Dread |
An anonymous developer | Planned around a possible delay | Dread |
Rockstar | Pulled its team back in office | All in |
Studios once dreaded GTA 6, now they are telling players to go enjoy it.
Bulkhead is not alone in finding a bright side to the launch. Sucker Punch celebrated when the original delay spared Ghost of Yotei a clash with Rockstar and this US company handed its staff the launch day off for the launch. Rockstar, meanwhile, is not resting as it goes all in on GTA 6's release after pulling its team back to the office for the final push.
A studio telling its own players to go spend December with a competitor would have sounded absurd until you realize this is just what happens when we're talking about Grand Theft Auto. The invitation plays on the idea that some launches are too big to beat, so you might as well enjoy them.
Bulkhead is not surrendering to GTA 6 so much as it is throwing a party for it and clocking out to attend.