In a recent interview discussing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4‘s imminent release, Activision threw a little shade at The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Upon being asked about Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Grand Theft Auto 6‘s launches next month, Activision’s Chief Marketing Officer claimed that GTA 6 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 are the biggest releases of the year, not the upcoming Zelda remake.
2026 has already been an incredibly busy year for video game releases. There’s been no shortage of major AAA releases, with Resident Evil Requiem, 007 First Light, Pragmata, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Control Resonant, and a handful of Marvel and Star Wars games all coming out within the last 10 months. This year has also seen a plethora of excellent indie game releases, with some highlights including Mewgenics, Cairn, Well Dweller, and Mina the Hollower.
“No Offense to Zelda” — Activision Says GTA 6 and Modern Warfare 4 Are The Biggest Games of 2026
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In a recent interview with The Game Business, Activision Chief Marketing Officer Tyler Bahl was asked about the idea that Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Grand Theft Auto 6 both launching in November could be the gaming industry’s version of ‘Barbenheimer’, the 2023 phenomenon that saw Barbie and Oppenheimer (two movies with very different tones and subject matters) release the same day and cause a brief boom in the industry. Bahl replies, “Well, no offense to Zelda, but [GTA and CoD] are the two biggest games of the year.”
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Grand Theft Auto 6 is undoubtedly one of the biggest video game releases of 2026. There’s been over a decade of hype surrounding Rockstar’s next entry in the already-beloved open-world crime franchise, and that excitement is rumored to have already resulted in commercial success, with industry analyst Anthony Palomba claiming that publisher Take-Two already made over $1 billion in the hour after Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders went live. Though we can’t know for sure, Grand Theft Auto 6 is likely to be one of the biggest launches in entertainment history.
The same can’t necessarily be said about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. Call of Duty is often one of, if not the best-selling game every year, but there’s no guarantee Modern Warfare 4 will receive the same success. While Black Ops 6 broke franchise sales records, Black Ops 7 reportedly had 50% lower sales at launch, and according to a January 2026 Circana report, it had the lowest end-of-year ranking in the US since 2008’s Call of Duty: World at War. Pre-release previews for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 have painted the game in a positive light, but it’ll need to really stick the landing next week for it to be considered one of 2026’s biggest releases. In the interview, Bahl does claim that GTA 6 will actually help Modern Warfare 4 to succeed, with it getting “more people coming in to the dashboards, more people taking the dust off their Xbox or PlayStation and playing again.”
Of course, there’s no way of knowing how well The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will perform at launch either. With it being a remake of one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time, Ocarina of Time is very likely to sell well and receive a positive critical reception (especially if recent Zelda: Ocarina of Time previews are any indication), but it’ll also need to really stick the landing if it’s going to stand side-by-side with Grand Theft Auto 6 this November.
- Released
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October 23, 2026
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
