‘Grand Theft Auto 6’ Is to Blame for ‘Danganronpa 2×2’s Delay, but Not for the Reason You Think

In the lead-up to Grand Theft Auto 6‘s long-awaited release this November, the rest of the games industry is getting out of the way as much as possible. The number of games delayed or moved away from a November release date continues to grow. Danganronpa 2×2 is one such game, and its developers are the first to admit that Grand Theft Auto 6 played a part in that decision.

When asked why the game was delayed in an interview with Crunchyroll, writer and series creator Kazuta Kodaka pointed to the obvious answer. “There’s a certain AAA/AAAA title that is gonna be released soon,” said Kodaka, “so we wanted to avoid that a little bit.” It’s a natural response, and clearly many other publishers and developers are making the same decision. Kodaka does say that this has afforded the team additional development time, which is always welcome.

Kodaka’s reasons aren’t entirely altruistic, however, as he added, “I wouldn’t have time to make the game while playing Grand Theft Auto 6, so it was inevitable that we moved the release time.” Now that is a relatable answer. Grand Theft Auto 6 is probably the most-anticipated game release ever. It is only natural that game developers are just as eager as players to get their hands on Rockstar’s open-world juggernaut to see if it will live up to the hype. Kodaka, along with everybody else, still has a few months to go until Grand Theft Auto 6 is released on Nov. 19.

Danganronpa 2×2 is a remake of 2012’s Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, the second entry in the cult murder mystery visual novel series. The remake aims to breathe new life into the original game. This includes basic graphical improvements and quality-of-life updates as well as a complete overhaul of the game map, transitioning it from 2D to 3D. Most intriguingly, there is also a new story route called Slayhem Mode that will tell a completely new narrative. Producer Shohei Sakakibara has said that Slayhem Mode will include roughly 35 hours of gameplay, compared to the original scenario’s 30 hours.

Danganronpa 2×2 is set to be released in early 2027 for Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X/S.