Shrek catches GTA 6 fever

Shrek is back on consoles on November 10 with Shrek 2 Remastered, and he's arriving with a trailer that shamelessly copies the Rockstar game launching nine days later. Vice City neon, a comic-panel cover lifted straight from the year's biggest release, and Shrek, Donkey and Puss in Boots standing where you'd expect Jason and Lucia. Here's what the trailer shows, when and where it's out, how much it costs and why this remaster is going to hit a whole generation right in the feels.

What does Shrek 2 have to do with GTA 6?

On paper, nothing. In practice, a lot more than you'd think. Aspyr revealed Shrek 2 Remastered during October's ID@Xbox showcase and, as IGN points out, the trailer opens with something that was never in the original game: a straight-up nod to GTA 6. It recreates the Vice City vibe and even mocks up its own take on Rockstar's cover art, complete with the panel grid the series has used for decades.

The joke has teeth. Launching on November 10, nine days before November 19, means walking right into the window almost the entire industry has steered clear of. IGN sums it up neatly: GTA 6 seems to have convinced nearly every game to get out of its way, "but not Shrek." Instead of hunting for another date, Aspyr is laughing at the elephant in the room. Or the ogre, in this case.

Why does this remaster hit so hard?

Because for a lot of people, Shrek 2 was one of their first games. It came out in 2004 on PS2, GameCube and the original Xbox, alongside the movie, and sold more than 4 million copies, according to VGC. It was one of those movie tie-ins nobody expected to be any good that ended up as a Saturday-afternoon classic: four players on the couch, one character each, and fights over who got to be Shrek.

And here's the emotional link. That same year, on that same PS2, GTA: San Andreas arrived. Plenty of shelves had the green ogre sitting next to Carl Johnson, even if you were allowed to play one and not so much the other. The kids fighting over Donkey in 2004 are now around thirty, and a good chunk of them have GTA 6 pre-ordered. Shrek crossing paths with the return to Vice City nine days apart is basically time travel with two stops.

When is Shrek 2 Remastered out, and on which platforms?

November 10, 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, Switch and PC, according to VGC. It's the same co-op game from the 2004 consoles, not the platformer that came out on PC, and you can play as Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Gingy and the rest of the gang.

According to Push Square, Aspyr has rebuilt it with better textures, a new interface, 4K resolution and improved cutscenes, and added a photo mode and a cheats menu. The 4K, mind you, doesn't make it to the original Switch. On Steam you can already pre-order it with 10% off.

Aspyr knows this territory well: it's the studio that has brought several Star Wars classics back to life. And the remaster arrives without a movie to lean on, because Shrek 5 has slipped more than once and is now set for June 30, 2027.

Has any other game dared to launch this close to GTA 6?

Very few, and none as brazenly. Rockstar has turned November 19 into the date everyone has circled on the calendar, and the rest of the industry has preferred to move its launches rather than go up against it. Shrek 2 Remastered plays in a different league, the small, cheap, nostalgic one, and that's exactly why it can afford the joke.

If you're itching to warm up, you've got the perfect plan for those nine days: reunite with the ogre on the 10th and, once you're done, check how long is left until GTA 6 and rewatch the launch trailer.