So much has changed at Arsenal between the GTA release sandwich

GTA V came out on 17 September 2013. Now, more than 13 years later, GTA VI is set for release on 19 November 2026. Between those release dates, Arsenal has changed enormously.

Where were Arsenal when GTA V launched?

When GTA V launched, we were in the 2013/14 season, and Arsenal were nine years into a trophy drought that began with the 2005 FA Cup. That season brought Mesut Özil, a deadline-day signing who broke our transfer record. It ended with the drought ending too, with Aaron Ramsey’s extra-time winner against Hull City in the 2014 FA Cup final.

Things didn’t stay rosy for long. We won the FA Cup again in 2015, beating Aston Villa 4-0, and once more in 2017, beating Chelsea. The league, though, told a different story. In 2016/17, Arsenal finished 5th and missed the top four for the first time under Wenger, then slipped to 6th the following year. Emery finished 5th in 2018/19, and disastrously lost the Europa League final against London rivals Chelsea. Mikel Arteta later arrived in December 2019. Eight months later, he won the FA Cup.

Arsenal had finished 8th twice and then 5th, before something shifted. In 2022/23, we became genuine title challengers, and we finished 2nd in three consecutive seasons (22/23, 23/24 and 24/25), always just short of the Premier League trophy.

GTA VI's release date sees a much rosier Arsenal

And then, as we all know, Arsenal won it in 2025/26, finally finishing those exhausting title races with Man City and Liverpool once and for all. It’s a nice bit of symmetry. The last time GTA was released, Arsenal ended a nine-year wait for a trophy. This time, the release comes as we’ve ended a 22-year wait for the league.

In 2013/14, Arsenal were thrilling and fragile. We played expansive, front-foot football, but our defence remained an issue. The heavy away defeats at Liverpool, Chelsea and City showed this. We won the FA Cup that year, but our drop from 1st to 4th showed we weren’t a team built to win a league.

Now we are. Today’s Arsenal are praised as the best off-the-ball team in the world, with one of the best defences in the league. The identity that once made us beautiful to watch has been replaced by one that makes us hard to beat. The two eras almost contradict each other, and yet both ended long waits for a trophy.

That’s the real difference between the two releases. In 2013, Arsenal ended a nine-year drought with a team that played more "romantically". In 2026, we’ve ended a 22-year wait for the league with a team that plays like champions, and the title challengers who finished 2nd three years running finally got over the line.

So let’s hope it doesn’t take until GTA VII for Arsenal to win the Champions League for the first time. GTA V’s release was followed by an FA Cup win, so maybe GTA VI’s release can bring us the Big Ears.

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