Should You Buy These 4 Video Game Stocks Before GTA 6 Arrives?

Video games keep players hooked for hours, and that engagement is turning into steady growth for the industry. Global games revenue reached about $202 billion in 2025, up 9%, and market researcher Newzoo forecasts the industry to grow to $214 billion in 2026.

Take-Two Interactive's (NASDAQ: TTWO) Grand Theft Auto VI is set to be the biggest growth driver for the industry over the next few years. The release date is set for Nov. 19. Here's how four top video game stocks could benefit or face greater competition from this release, and whether you should consider buying them now.

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Take-Two Interactive

Take-Two publishes Grand Theft Auto (GTA) through its Rockstar Games label, along with NBA 2K, Borderlands, Red Dead Redemption, and mobile games like Toon Blast. As of Oct. 15, 2026, the stock is down about 20% over the past year.

GTA has been an industry best-seller for 13 years. GTA V has sold a cumulative 230 million units since its 2013 release, setting high expectations for the next installment.

Management expects net bookings -- a non-GAAP measure of revenue -- to rise about 20% this fiscal year to roughly $8.1 billion. GTA VI is likely to be a major driver of Take-Two's growth over the next year, as reflected in the stock's valuation.

The stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 30 based on Wall Street's earnings estimates for the current fiscal year ending in March. Analysts expect earnings to grow about 27% annually in the next few years, which could support market-beating returns. I would consider buying a starter position now and wait to buy more after sales data confirms whether the game is meeting expectations.

Nintendo

Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) has sold about 24 million Switch 2 consoles, following the monster success of the original Switch, which sold over 156 million units. It has built a large following of fans through franchises like Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, and Animal Crossing. But its stock is down about 37% over the past year, as investors worry about growth after a Switch 2 price increase.

GTA VI is not currently planned to launch on either Switch game system, so Nintendo will have to compete for players' wallets with games like Nintendo Switch Sports Resort and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. President Shuntaro Furukawa has said rising memory chip costs will pressure hardware profits, but the plan hasn't changed: grow the number of console owners first, then sell them more games, which is the real profit engine.

The stock trades at a trailing P/E of 19, with management forecasting only 3% growth in operating profit for the March-ending fiscal year. Given the competition from Take-Two's upcoming release and weak profit guidance, I would not pay this premium to hold Nintendo stock right now.

Roblox

Roblox (NYSE: RBLX) runs an online platform where its 123 million daily users play games built by outside creators. The stock is down about 63% over the past year as users are spending less on game content.

Revenue grew 36% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, but bookings rose only 8% as players spent less per hour, especially younger users in the U.S. and Canada. Management expects third-quarter bookings to fall 14% to 18%. It still believes Roblox can grow sales by more than 20% per year over the long term and eventually capture 10% of global gaming revenue, up from a low-single-digit share today.

GTA VI competes with Roblox mainly among older teens and adults, a group Roblox is trying to reach. But the bigger problem is spending on its own platform. Given its weakening engagement trends and slowing bookings, I would hold off on buying Roblox stock right now.

Sony

Sony's (NYSE: SONY) PlayStation 5 (PS5) had sold 93.7 million units, as of March 31, 2026, with 125 million PlayStation monthly active users. Gaming generated about 42% of the company's operating profit in the June-ending quarter, while the stock is down about 14% over the past year.

Sony is GTA VI's main console partner, so it stands to benefit from players buying the game on the PS5 through the PlayStation Store. In its July 31, 2026, question-and-answer session with analysts, management said it expects several major new titles this year to support overall market momentum. This would include GTA VI.

Across all the company's segments, including gaming, music, movies, and imaging solutions, it expects full-year sales to be slightly up, with operating profit up about 18% over the prior year.

The stock trades at a trailing P/E of 20. That's a fair valuation, but with gaming contributing less than half of its profit, Take-Two remains the single best stock to profit from GTA VI.

John Ballard has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nintendo, Roblox, and Take-Two Interactive Software. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.