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Why Did Rockstar Delay GTA 6?
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Rockstar's highly anticipated open-world game GTA 6 was supposed to be released around right now, in Fall 2025, but the game has seen multiple delays since it was originally announced. Now, the game is slated for release in about a year on November 19, 2026, following a pushback from May 26, 2026.
Why was GTA 6 delayed a second time? And how does the delay pattern for GTA 6 line up with Rockstar's previous releases? We're breaking down all the key things to know in this post.
Rockstar's rationale for delaying GTA 6
In early November, Rockstar announced that GTA 6 was being delayed by 5 months and 24 days, from May 26 to November 19. But why did Rockstar make the decision to delay the game once again? The company said it came down to quality. "These extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve," the studio said.
"We are sorry for adding additional time to what we realize has been a long wait," the team added.
Rockstar is owned by Take-Two, and the company's CEO Strauss Zelnick said Rockstar is "seeking perfection" with GTA 6--and that takes time.
"When we set a date, we really do believe in it. We said when we set the last date, if a game requires more polish to be the best possible version of itself, then we will give that game more time. And that's exactly what happened."
Zelnick said the company feels "really good" about the new November 2026 release date, and many have focused on this quote because it's exactly what Zelnick said--down to the same "really good" line--when GTA 6 was pushed from Fall 2025 to May 2026.
For Zelnick, part of the reason he still feels "really good" about GTA 6's November 2026 release date is because it falls within the same fiscal year for Take-Two, thus allowing Take-Two to maintain its fiscal projections and keep investors satisfied. He's also excited by the fact that GTA 6 will release during the holiday season. "It happens to be a great release window, and naturally we're really supportive of Rockstar's approach," he said.
GTA 6 launching during the busy holiday shopping season may be a boon for the game's sales, but Zelnick said previously that the game's release date within the calendar year doesn't matter much because of the incredible amount of pent-up demand for it. In short, Zelnick believes people will buy GTA 6 no matter when it's released, and no one is questioning that logic.
"Seeking perfection"
One of the lines that Zelnick has repeated over and over is how Rockstar is "seeking perfection" with GTA 6, and this can be a slow process. "When we feel we've optimized creatively, that's the time to release," he said.
"There's inherent tension, potentially, between getting something to market and creating perfection," Zelnick added. "But this company errs on the side of perfection."
In an interview with CNBC, Zelnick said, "What Rockstar Games puts into all of their titles is a desire for creative perfection, which is why it takes a long time and why it's complex. We don't claim success until it occurs."
Zelnick's comments may make your eyes roll due to the corporate speak, but the executive is speaking from a position of strength--after all, GTA 5 sold more than 220 million copies and is among the best-selling games ever. Another Rockstar franchise overseen by Zelnick, Red Dead Redemption, is a sales juggernaut as well, with the sequel alone selling some 79 million copies.
GTA 6 was not delayed due to Rockstar union controversy
Rockstar recently fired 30-40 workers in Scotland and Canada for what it called "gross misconduct" reportedly related to leaking secrets, not for trying to form a union. A UK union pushed back, saying Rockstar is blatantly and ruthlessly trying to block a union.
More than 200 Rockstar workers signed a letter demanding that the fired staffers be reinstated. UK lawmakers have raised concerns about the Rockstar situation in proceedings recently. While this is all going on, reporter Jason Schreier of Bloomberg said these events are unrelated to GTA 6's latest delay to November 2026.
"This delay was not due to the firings... While the fallout from those firings could certainly have a long-term impact on the project and lead to more missed deadlines in the future--due to those vacant roles, protracted legal battles, morale loss, etc.--the game did not slip 6 months because 34 people were fired a week ago," he wrote.
Rockstar rarely launches games on time
Rockstar has a long history of announcing release dates and then missing them, so it was no surprise that GTA 6 was the latest example of this trend.
The majority of Rockstar's biggest games over the past decade-plus have all been delayed beyond their originally announced release windows, including Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto V, and Red Dead Redemption II. In all of these cases, Rockstar maintained that the decision to delay came down to choosing to focus on quality instead of rushing to market, and Rockstar has said the same thing about GTA 6 for each of its two delays so far.
Here is a brief history of Rockstar's delays for its big games:
- GTA 4 -- Was set to launch in October 2007 before being delayed to April 2008.
- GTA: Chinatown Wars -- Was set to release before the end of January 2009 before moving to April 2009.
- Red Dead Redemption -- Was lined up to release at the end of April 2010 before shifting to May 2010.
- GTA 5 -- Was originally scheduled for Spring 2013 before being delayed to September 2013.
- Red Dead Redemption 2 -- Was supposed to launch in 2017 before moving to Spring 2018 and then again to Fall 2018.
- GTA 5's PS5/Xbox Series X|S ports -- These new versions of GTA 5 were lined up to launch in November 2021 before being delayed to March 2022.
How big will GTA 6's release be?
Everyone assumes GTA 6 will be a gigantic success upon release. One analyst has predicted the game will sell 40 million copies and drive more than $3 billion in revenue in its first year. Back in 2013, GTA 5 needed just three days to clear $1 billion in revenue, and the game only grew from there.
While GTA 6 is expected to be a huge hit, people are "naive" to think one big release like this will help the video game industry overall rebound from its core issues today, according to one analyst.
Joost van Dreunen told IGN that people should not look to GTA 6 to help address the wider, more systemic issues impacting the video game business. Van Dreunen concurs that GTA 6 will be a massive launch, but said people are overly optimistic if they think GTA 6 is a magic bullet.
"After the high comes the hangover," he said. "I realize that many in the industry are looking forward to this undoubtedly pivotal moment. There's even a somewhat naive expectation that this one release will reverse the industry's current direction. It won't."
When GTA 6 comes out, gamers and investors alike will "enjoy their respective highs," but the painful comedown may come next.
"I expect a period of sobriety to follow. In the absence of any similar releases in the near future especially investors are likely to redeploy their capital elsewhere, thereby lowering the industry's overall valuation," he said.
The video game industry has faced cuts and setbacks in recent years, including a spate of mass layoffs, price increases, and numerous game cancellations.
People like former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden have been saying time and again that the AAA scene is unsustainable. In 2012, Assassin's Creed III director Alex Hutchinson said the pursuit of AAA games represents a "cancerous growth." Because of this, Hutchinson said he expects AAA games to die out. "I think that will leave the AAA blockbusters as nothing more than the last of the dinosaurs," he said.
What do we know about GTA 6?
Back in early 2022, Rockstar gave the first official statement about GTA 6, saying work was "well underway" on the game. "With every new project we embark on, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we have previously delivered--and we are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway," the developer said at the time.
The first trailer for GTA 6 came in December 2023, following a leak. The spectacular trailer, which used Tom Petty's "Love Is A Long Road," introduced fans to the game's setting of Vice City (the same setting as 2002's GTA: Vice City) and the wider state of Leonida, a stand-in for Florida. The trailer also provided the first look at the game's main characters, the lovers Jason and Lucia.
A second trailer was released in May 2025 to coincide with the delay from Fall 2025. This trailer impressed fans, too, showing off the game's vibrant world full of colorful characters. A website for GTA 6 went live at this time, too, providing a ton of information on the game's characters and setting.
Everyone is waiting for a third trailer, but as of yet, Rockstar has not released one or provided any word on when it could come. Beyond the game itself, a major discussion point around GTA 6 has been what its price will be. There has been ongoing chatter and debate about if Rockstar and Take-Two will follow Nintendo's Mario Kart World playbook and raise the price to $80, or possibly more. That remains to be seen, and there are some who believe a higher price point might not actually be a good thing.
As always, keep checking back with GameSpot for more on GTA 6.
content_html
Rockstar's highly anticipated open-world game GTA 6 was supposed to be released around right now, in Fall 2025, but the game has seen multiple delays since it was originally announced. Now, the game is slated for release in about a year on November 19, 2026, following a pushback from May 26, 2026.
Why was GTA 6 delayed a second time? And how does the delay pattern for GTA 6 line up with Rockstar's previous releases? We're breaking down all the key things to know in this post.
Rockstar's rationale for delaying GTA 6
In early November, Rockstar announced that GTA 6 was being delayed by 5 months and 24 days, from May 26 to November 19. But why did Rockstar make the decision to delay the game once again? The company said it came down to quality. "These extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve," the studio said.
"We are sorry for adding additional time to what we realize has been a long wait," the team added.
Rockstar is owned by Take-Two, and the company's CEO Strauss Zelnick said Rockstar is "seeking perfection" with GTA 6--and that takes time.
"When we set a date, we really do believe in it. We said when we set the last date, if a game requires more polish to be the best possible version of itself, then we will give that game more time. And that's exactly what happened."
Zelnick said the company feels "really good" about the new November 2026 release date, and many have focused on this quote because it's exactly what Zelnick said--down to the same "really good" line--when GTA 6 was pushed from Fall 2025 to May 2026.
For Zelnick, part of the reason he still feels "really good" about GTA 6's November 2026 release date is because it falls within the same fiscal year for Take-Two, thus allowing Take-Two to maintain its fiscal projections and keep investors satisfied. He's also excited by the fact that GTA 6 will release during the holiday season. "It happens to be a great release window, and naturally we're really supportive of Rockstar's approach," he said.
GTA 6 launching during the busy holiday shopping season may be a boon for the game's sales, but Zelnick said previously that the game's release date within the calendar year doesn't matter much because of the incredible amount of pent-up demand for it. In short, Zelnick believes people will buy GTA 6 no matter when it's released, and no one is questioning that logic.
"Seeking perfection"
One of the lines that Zelnick has repeated over and over is how Rockstar is "seeking perfection" with GTA 6, and this can be a slow process. "When we feel we've optimized creatively, that's the time to release," he said.
"There's inherent tension, potentially, between getting something to market and creating perfection," Zelnick added. "But this company errs on the side of perfection."
In an interview with CNBC, Zelnick said, "What Rockstar Games puts into all of their titles is a desire for creative perfection, which is why it takes a long time and why it's complex. We don't claim success until it occurs."
Zelnick's comments may make your eyes roll due to the corporate speak, but the executive is speaking from a position of strength--after all, GTA 5 sold more than 220 million copies and is among the best-selling games ever. Another Rockstar franchise overseen by Zelnick, Red Dead Redemption, is a sales juggernaut as well, with the sequel alone selling some 79 million copies.
GTA 6 was not delayed due to Rockstar union controversy
Rockstar recently fired 30-40 workers in Scotland and Canada for what it called "gross misconduct" reportedly related to leaking secrets, not for trying to form a union. A UK union pushed back, saying Rockstar is blatantly and ruthlessly trying to block a union.
More than 200 Rockstar workers signed a letter demanding that the fired staffers be reinstated. UK lawmakers have raised concerns about the Rockstar situation in proceedings recently. While this is all going on, reporter Jason Schreier of Bloomberg said these events are unrelated to GTA 6's latest delay to November 2026.
"This delay was not due to the firings... While the fallout from those firings could certainly have a long-term impact on the project and lead to more missed deadlines in the future--due to those vacant roles, protracted legal battles, morale loss, etc.--the game did not slip 6 months because 34 people were fired a week ago," he wrote.
Rockstar rarely launches games on time
Rockstar has a long history of announcing release dates and then missing them, so it was no surprise that GTA 6 was the latest example of this trend.
The majority of Rockstar's biggest games over the past decade-plus have all been delayed beyond their originally announced release windows, including Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto V, and Red Dead Redemption II. In all of these cases, Rockstar maintained that the decision to delay came down to choosing to focus on quality instead of rushing to market, and Rockstar has said the same thing about GTA 6 for each of its two delays so far.
Here is a brief history of Rockstar's delays for its big games:
- GTA 4 -- Was set to launch in October 2007 before being delayed to April 2008.
- GTA: Chinatown Wars -- Was set to release before the end of January 2009 before moving to April 2009.
- Red Dead Redemption -- Was lined up to release at the end of April 2010 before shifting to May 2010.
- GTA 5 -- Was originally scheduled for Spring 2013 before being delayed to September 2013.
- Red Dead Redemption 2 -- Was supposed to launch in 2017 before moving to Spring 2018 and then again to Fall 2018.
- GTA 5's PS5/Xbox Series X|S ports -- These new versions of GTA 5 were lined up to launch in November 2021 before being delayed to March 2022.
How big will GTA 6's release be?
Everyone assumes GTA 6 will be a gigantic success upon release. One analyst has predicted the game will sell 40 million copies and drive more than $3 billion in revenue in its first year. Back in 2013, GTA 5 needed just three days to clear $1 billion in revenue, and the game only grew from there.
While GTA 6 is expected to be a huge hit, people are "naive" to think one big release like this will help the video game industry overall rebound from its core issues today, according to one analyst.
Joost van Dreunen told IGN that people should not look to GTA 6 to help address the wider, more systemic issues impacting the video game business. Van Dreunen concurs that GTA 6 will be a massive launch, but said people are overly optimistic if they think GTA 6 is a magic bullet.
"After the high comes the hangover," he said. "I realize that many in the industry are looking forward to this undoubtedly pivotal moment. There's even a somewhat naive expectation that this one release will reverse the industry's current direction. It won't."
When GTA 6 comes out, gamers and investors alike will "enjoy their respective highs," but the painful comedown may come next.
"I expect a period of sobriety to follow. In the absence of any similar releases in the near future especially investors are likely to redeploy their capital elsewhere, thereby lowering the industry's overall valuation," he said.
The video game industry has faced cuts and setbacks in recent years, including a spate of mass layoffs, price increases, and numerous game cancellations.
People like former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden have been saying time and again that the AAA scene is unsustainable. In 2012, Assassin's Creed III director Alex Hutchinson said the pursuit of AAA games represents a "cancerous growth." Because of this, Hutchinson said he expects AAA games to die out. "I think that will leave the AAA blockbusters as nothing more than the last of the dinosaurs," he said.
What do we know about GTA 6?
Back in early 2022, Rockstar gave the first official statement about GTA 6, saying work was "well underway" on the game. "With every new project we embark on, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we have previously delivered--and we are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway," the developer said at the time.
The first trailer for GTA 6 came in December 2023, following a leak. The spectacular trailer, which used Tom Petty's "Love Is A Long Road," introduced fans to the game's setting of Vice City (the same setting as 2002's GTA: Vice City) and the wider state of Leonida, a stand-in for Florida. The trailer also provided the first look at the game's main characters, the lovers Jason and Lucia.
A second trailer was released in May 2025 to coincide with the delay from Fall 2025. This trailer impressed fans, too, showing off the game's vibrant world full of colorful characters. A website for GTA 6 went live at this time, too, providing a ton of information on the game's characters and setting.
Everyone is waiting for a third trailer, but as of yet, Rockstar has not released one or provided any word on when it could come. Beyond the game itself, a major discussion point around GTA 6 has been what its price will be. There has been ongoing chatter and debate about if Rockstar and Take-Two will follow Nintendo's Mario Kart World playbook and raise the price to $80, or possibly more. That remains to be seen, and there are some who believe a higher price point might not actually be a good thing.
As always, keep checking back with GameSpot for more on GTA 6.
content_text
Rockstar's highly anticipated open-world game GTA 6 was supposed to be released around right now, in Fall 2025, but the game has seen multiple delays since it was originally announced. Now, the game is slated for release in about a year on November 19, 2026, following a pushback from May 26, 2026.Why was GTA 6 delayed a second time? And how does the delay pattern for GTA 6 line up with Rockstar's previous releases? We're breaking down all the key things to know in this post.Rockstar's rationale for delaying GTA 6In early November, Rockstar announced that GTA 6 was being delayed by 5 months and 24 days, from May 26 to November 19. But why did Rockstar make the decision to delay the game once again? The company said it came down to quality. "These extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve," the studio said."We are sorry for adding additional time to what we realize has been a long wait," the team added.Rockstar is owned by Take-Two, and the company's CEO Strauss Zelnick said Rockstar is "seeking perfection" with GTA 6--and that takes time."When we set a date, we really do believe in it. We said when we set the last date, if a game requires more polish to be the best possible version of itself, then we will give that game more time. And that's exactly what happened."Zelnick said the company feels "really good" about the new November 2026 release date, and many have focused on this quote because it's exactly what Zelnick said--down to the same "really good" line--when GTA 6 was pushed from Fall 2025 to May 2026.For Zelnick, part of the reason he still feels "really good" about GTA 6's November 2026 release date is because it falls within the same fiscal year for Take-Two, thus allowing Take-Two to maintain its fiscal projections and keep investors satisfied. He's also excited by the fact that GTA 6 will release during the holiday season. "It happens to be a great release window, and naturally we're really supportive of Rockstar's approach," he said.GTA 6 launching during the busy holiday shopping season may be a boon for the game's sales, but Zelnick said previously that the game's release date within the calendar year doesn't matter much because of the incredible amount of pent-up demand for it. In short, Zelnick believes people will buy GTA 6 no matter when it's released, and no one is questioning that logic."Seeking perfection"One of the lines that Zelnick has repeated over and over is how Rockstar is "seeking perfection" with GTA 6, and this can be a slow process. "When we feel we've optimized creatively, that's the time to release," he said."There's inherent tension, potentially, between getting something to market and creating perfection," Zelnick added. "But this company errs on the side of perfection."In an interview with CNBC, Zelnick said, "What Rockstar Games puts into all of their titles is a desire for creative perfection, which is why it takes a long time and why it's complex. We don't claim success until it occurs."Zelnick's comments may make your eyes roll due to the corporate speak, but the executive is speaking from a position of strength--after all, GTA 5 sold more than 220 million copies and is among the best-selling games ever. Another Rockstar franchise overseen by Zelnick, Red Dead Redemption, is a sales juggernaut as well, with the sequel alone selling some 79 million copies.GTA 6 was not delayed due to Rockstar union controversyRockstar recently fired 30-40 workers in Scotland and Canada for what it called "gross misconduct" reportedly related to leaking secrets, not for trying to form a union. A UK union pushed back, saying Rockstar is blatantly and ruthlessly trying to block a union.More than 200 Rockstar workers signed a letter demanding that the fired staffers be reinstated. UK lawmakers have raised concerns about the Rockstar situation in proceedings recently. While this is all going on, reporter Jason Schreier of Bloomberg said these events are unrelated to GTA 6's latest delay to November 2026."This delay was not due to the firings... While the fallout from those firings could certainly have a long-term impact on the project and lead to more missed deadlines in the future--due to those vacant roles, protracted legal battles, morale loss, etc.--the game did not slip 6 months because 34 people were fired a week ago," he wrote.Rockstar rarely launches games on timeRockstar has a long history of announcing release dates and then missing them, so it was no surprise that GTA 6 was the latest example of this trend.The majority of Rockstar's biggest games over the past decade-plus have all been delayed beyond their originally announced release windows, including Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto V, and Red Dead Redemption II. In all of these cases, Rockstar maintained that the decision to delay came down to choosing to focus on quality instead of rushing to market, and Rockstar has said the same thing about GTA 6 for each of its two delays so far.Here is a brief history of Rockstar's delays for its big games:GTA 4 -- Was set to launch in October 2007 before being delayed to April 2008.GTA: Chinatown Wars -- Was set to release before the end of January 2009 before moving to April 2009.Red Dead Redemption -- Was lined up to release at the end of April 2010 before shifting to May 2010.GTA 5 -- Was originally scheduled for Spring 2013 before being delayed to September 2013.Red Dead Redemption 2 -- Was supposed to launch in 2017 before moving to Spring 2018 and then again to Fall 2018.GTA 5's PS5/Xbox Series X|S ports -- These new versions of GTA 5 were lined up to launch in November 2021 before being delayed to March 2022.How big will GTA 6's release be?Everyone assumes GTA 6 will be a gigantic success upon release. One analyst has predicted the game will sell 40 million copies and drive more than $3 billion in revenue in its first year. Back in 2013, GTA 5 needed just three days to clear $1 billion in revenue, and the game only grew from there.While GTA 6 is expected to be a huge hit, people are "naive" to think one big release like this will help the video game industry overall rebound from its core issues today, according to one analyst.Joost van Dreunen told IGN that people should not look to GTA 6 to help address the wider, more systemic issues impacting the video game business. Van Dreunen concurs that GTA 6 will be a massive launch, but said people are overly optimistic if they think GTA 6 is a magic bullet."After the high comes the hangover," he said. "I realize that many in the industry are looking forward to this undoubtedly pivotal moment. There's even a somewhat naive expectation that this one release will reverse the industry's current direction. It won't."When GTA 6 comes out, gamers and investors alike will "enjoy their respective highs," but the painful comedown may come next."I expect a period of sobriety to follow. In the absence of any similar releases in the near future especially investors are likely to redeploy their capital elsewhere, thereby lowering the industry's overall valuation," he said.The video game industry has faced cuts and setbacks in recent years, including a spate of mass layoffs, price increases, and numerous game cancellations.People like former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden have been saying time and again that the AAA scene is unsustainable. In 2012, Assassin's Creed III director Alex Hutchinson said the pursuit of AAA games represents a "cancerous growth." Because of this, Hutchinson said he expects AAA games to die out. "I think that will leave the AAA blockbusters as nothing more than the last of the dinosaurs," he said.What do we know about GTA 6?Back in early 2022, Rockstar gave the first official statement about GTA 6, saying work was "well underway" on the game. "With every new project we embark on, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we have previously delivered--and we are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway," the developer said at the time.The first trailer for GTA 6 came in December 2023, following a leak. The spectacular trailer, which used Tom Petty's "Love Is A Long Road," introduced fans to the game's setting of Vice City (the same setting as 2002's GTA: Vice City) and the wider state of Leonida, a stand-in for Florida. The trailer also provided the first look at the game's main characters, the lovers Jason and Lucia.A second trailer was released in May 2025 to coincide with the delay from Fall 2025. This trailer impressed fans, too, showing off the game's vibrant world full of colorful characters. A website for GTA 6 went live at this time, too, providing a ton of information on the game's characters and setting.Everyone is waiting for a third trailer, but as of yet, Rockstar has not released one or provided any word on when it could come. Beyond the game itself, a major discussion point around GTA 6 has been what its price will be. There has been ongoing chatter and debate about if Rockstar and Take-Two will follow Nintendo's Mario Kart World playbook and raise the price to $80, or possibly more. That remains to be seen, and there are some who believe a higher price point might not actually be a good thing. As always, keep checking back with GameSpot for more on GTA 6.
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21 November 2025, 3:46 pm
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Eddie Makuch
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insdate: 2025-11-21 16:20:01
title: Why Did Rockstar Delay GTA 6?
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category: Game Spot
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link: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/why-did-rockstar-delay-gta-6/1100-6536423/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f
image: https://www.gamespot.com/a/uploads/screen_medium/1179/11799911/4608480-screenshot2025-11-21at10.00.46 am.png
image_imgur:
description:
Rockstar's highly anticipated open-world game GTA 6 was supposed to be released around right now, in Fall 2025, but the game has seen multiple delays since it was originally announced. Now, the game is slated for release in about a year on November 19, 2026, following a pushback from May 26, 2026.
Why was GTA 6 delayed a second time? And how does the delay pattern for GTA 6 line up with Rockstar's previous releases? We're breaking down all the key things to know in this post.
Rockstar's rationale for delaying GTA 6
In early November, Rockstar announced that GTA 6 was being delayed by 5 months and 24 days, from May 26 to November 19. But why did Rockstar make the decision to delay the game once again? The company said it came down to quality. "These extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve," the studio said.
"We are sorry for adding additional time to what we realize has been a long wait," the team added.
Rockstar is owned by Take-Two, and the company's CEO Strauss Zelnick said Rockstar is "seeking perfection" with GTA 6--and that takes time.
"When we set a date, we really do believe in it. We said when we set the last date, if a game requires more polish to be the best possible version of itself, then we will give that game more time. And that's exactly what happened."
Zelnick said the company feels "really good" about the new November 2026 release date, and many have focused on this quote because it's exactly what Zelnick said--down to the same "really good" line--when GTA 6 was pushed from Fall 2025 to May 2026.
For Zelnick, part of the reason he still feels "really good" about GTA 6's November 2026 release date is because it falls within the same fiscal year for Take-Two, thus allowing Take-Two to maintain its fiscal projections and keep investors satisfied. He's also excited by the fact that GTA 6 will release during the holiday season. "It happens to be a great release window, and naturally we're really supportive of Rockstar's approach," he said.
GTA 6 launching during the busy holiday shopping season may be a boon for the game's sales, but Zelnick said previously that the game's release date within the calendar year doesn't matter much because of the incredible amount of pent-up demand for it. In short, Zelnick believes people will buy GTA 6 no matter when it's released, and no one is questioning that logic.
"Seeking perfection"
One of the lines that Zelnick has repeated over and over is how Rockstar is "seeking perfection" with GTA 6, and this can be a slow process. "When we feel we've optimized creatively, that's the time to release," he said.
"There's inherent tension, potentially, between getting something to market and creating perfection," Zelnick added. "But this company errs on the side of perfection."
In an interview with CNBC, Zelnick said, "What Rockstar Games puts into all of their titles is a desire for creative perfection, which is why it takes a long time and why it's complex. We don't claim success until it occurs."
Zelnick's comments may make your eyes roll due to the corporate speak, but the executive is speaking from a position of strength--after all, GTA 5 sold more than 220 million copies and is among the best-selling games ever. Another Rockstar franchise overseen by Zelnick, Red Dead Redemption, is a sales juggernaut as well, with the sequel alone selling some 79 million copies.
GTA 6 was not delayed due to Rockstar union controversy
Rockstar recently fired 30-40 workers in Scotland and Canada for what it called "gross misconduct" reportedly related to leaking secrets, not for trying to form a union. A UK union pushed back, saying Rockstar is blatantly and ruthlessly trying to block a union.
More than 200 Rockstar workers signed a letter demanding that the fired staffers be reinstated. UK lawmakers have raised concerns about the Rockstar situation in proceedings recently. While this is all going on, reporter Jason Schreier of Bloomberg said these events are unrelated to GTA 6's latest delay to November 2026.
"This delay was not due to the firings... While the fallout from those firings could certainly have a long-term impact on the project and lead to more missed deadlines in the future--due to those vacant roles, protracted legal battles, morale loss, etc.--the game did not slip 6 months because 34 people were fired a week ago," he wrote.
Rockstar rarely launches games on time
Rockstar has a long history of announcing release dates and then missing them, so it was no surprise that GTA 6 was the latest example of this trend.
The majority of Rockstar's biggest games over the past decade-plus have all been delayed beyond their originally announced release windows, including Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto V, and Red Dead Redemption II. In all of these cases, Rockstar maintained that the decision to delay came down to choosing to focus on quality instead of rushing to market, and Rockstar has said the same thing about GTA 6 for each of its two delays so far.
Here is a brief history of Rockstar's delays for its big games:
- GTA 4 -- Was set to launch in October 2007 before being delayed to April 2008.
- GTA: Chinatown Wars -- Was set to release before the end of January 2009 before moving to April 2009.
- Red Dead Redemption -- Was lined up to release at the end of April 2010 before shifting to May 2010.
- GTA 5 -- Was originally scheduled for Spring 2013 before being delayed to September 2013.
- Red Dead Redemption 2 -- Was supposed to launch in 2017 before moving to Spring 2018 and then again to Fall 2018.
- GTA 5's PS5/Xbox Series X|S ports -- These new versions of GTA 5 were lined up to launch in November 2021 before being delayed to March 2022.
How big will GTA 6's release be?
Everyone assumes GTA 6 will be a gigantic success upon release. One analyst has predicted the game will sell 40 million copies and drive more than $3 billion in revenue in its first year. Back in 2013, GTA 5 needed just three days to clear $1 billion in revenue, and the game only grew from there.
While GTA 6 is expected to be a huge hit, people are "naive" to think one big release like this will help the video game industry overall rebound from its core issues today, according to one analyst.
Joost van Dreunen told IGN that people should not look to GTA 6 to help address the wider, more systemic issues impacting the video game business. Van Dreunen concurs that GTA 6 will be a massive launch, but said people are overly optimistic if they think GTA 6 is a magic bullet.
"After the high comes the hangover," he said. "I realize that many in the industry are looking forward to this undoubtedly pivotal moment. There's even a somewhat naive expectation that this one release will reverse the industry's current direction. It won't."
When GTA 6 comes out, gamers and investors alike will "enjoy their respective highs," but the painful comedown may come next.
"I expect a period of sobriety to follow. In the absence of any similar releases in the near future especially investors are likely to redeploy their capital elsewhere, thereby lowering the industry's overall valuation," he said.
The video game industry has faced cuts and setbacks in recent years, including a spate of mass layoffs, price increases, and numerous game cancellations.
People like former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden have been saying time and again that the AAA scene is unsustainable. In 2012, Assassin's Creed III director Alex Hutchinson said the pursuit of AAA games represents a "cancerous growth." Because of this, Hutchinson said he expects AAA games to die out. "I think that will leave the AAA blockbusters as nothing more than the last of the dinosaurs," he said.
What do we know about GTA 6?
Back in early 2022, Rockstar gave the first official statement about GTA 6, saying work was "well underway" on the game. "With every new project we embark on, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we have previously delivered--and we are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway," the developer said at the time.
The first trailer for GTA 6 came in December 2023, following a leak. The spectacular trailer, which used Tom Petty's "Love Is A Long Road," introduced fans to the game's setting of Vice City (the same setting as 2002's GTA: Vice City) and the wider state of Leonida, a stand-in for Florida. The trailer also provided the first look at the game's main characters, the lovers Jason and Lucia.
A second trailer was released in May 2025 to coincide with the delay from Fall 2025. This trailer impressed fans, too, showing off the game's vibrant world full of colorful characters. A website for GTA 6 went live at this time, too, providing a ton of information on the game's characters and setting.
Everyone is waiting for a third trailer, but as of yet, Rockstar has not released one or provided any word on when it could come. Beyond the game itself, a major discussion point around GTA 6 has been what its price will be. There has been ongoing chatter and debate about if Rockstar and Take-Two will follow Nintendo's Mario Kart World playbook and raise the price to $80, or possibly more. That remains to be seen, and there are some who believe a higher price point might not actually be a good thing.
As always, keep checking back with GameSpot for more on GTA 6.
content_html:
Rockstar's highly anticipated open-world game GTA 6 was supposed to be released around right now, in Fall 2025, but the game has seen multiple delays since it was originally announced. Now, the game is slated for release in about a year on November 19, 2026, following a pushback from May 26, 2026.
Why was GTA 6 delayed a second time? And how does the delay pattern for GTA 6 line up with Rockstar's previous releases? We're breaking down all the key things to know in this post.
Rockstar's rationale for delaying GTA 6
In early November, Rockstar announced that GTA 6 was being delayed by 5 months and 24 days, from May 26 to November 19. But why did Rockstar make the decision to delay the game once again? The company said it came down to quality. "These extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve," the studio said.
"We are sorry for adding additional time to what we realize has been a long wait," the team added.
Rockstar is owned by Take-Two, and the company's CEO Strauss Zelnick said Rockstar is "seeking perfection" with GTA 6--and that takes time.
"When we set a date, we really do believe in it. We said when we set the last date, if a game requires more polish to be the best possible version of itself, then we will give that game more time. And that's exactly what happened."
Zelnick said the company feels "really good" about the new November 2026 release date, and many have focused on this quote because it's exactly what Zelnick said--down to the same "really good" line--when GTA 6 was pushed from Fall 2025 to May 2026.
For Zelnick, part of the reason he still feels "really good" about GTA 6's November 2026 release date is because it falls within the same fiscal year for Take-Two, thus allowing Take-Two to maintain its fiscal projections and keep investors satisfied. He's also excited by the fact that GTA 6 will release during the holiday season. "It happens to be a great release window, and naturally we're really supportive of Rockstar's approach," he said.
GTA 6 launching during the busy holiday shopping season may be a boon for the game's sales, but Zelnick said previously that the game's release date within the calendar year doesn't matter much because of the incredible amount of pent-up demand for it. In short, Zelnick believes people will buy GTA 6 no matter when it's released, and no one is questioning that logic.
"Seeking perfection"
One of the lines that Zelnick has repeated over and over is how Rockstar is "seeking perfection" with GTA 6, and this can be a slow process. "When we feel we've optimized creatively, that's the time to release," he said.
"There's inherent tension, potentially, between getting something to market and creating perfection," Zelnick added. "But this company errs on the side of perfection."
In an interview with CNBC, Zelnick said, "What Rockstar Games puts into all of their titles is a desire for creative perfection, which is why it takes a long time and why it's complex. We don't claim success until it occurs."
Zelnick's comments may make your eyes roll due to the corporate speak, but the executive is speaking from a position of strength--after all, GTA 5 sold more than 220 million copies and is among the best-selling games ever. Another Rockstar franchise overseen by Zelnick, Red Dead Redemption, is a sales juggernaut as well, with the sequel alone selling some 79 million copies.
GTA 6 was not delayed due to Rockstar union controversy
Rockstar recently fired 30-40 workers in Scotland and Canada for what it called "gross misconduct" reportedly related to leaking secrets, not for trying to form a union. A UK union pushed back, saying Rockstar is blatantly and ruthlessly trying to block a union.
More than 200 Rockstar workers signed a letter demanding that the fired staffers be reinstated. UK lawmakers have raised concerns about the Rockstar situation in proceedings recently. While this is all going on, reporter Jason Schreier of Bloomberg said these events are unrelated to GTA 6's latest delay to November 2026.
"This delay was not due to the firings... While the fallout from those firings could certainly have a long-term impact on the project and lead to more missed deadlines in the future--due to those vacant roles, protracted legal battles, morale loss, etc.--the game did not slip 6 months because 34 people were fired a week ago," he wrote.
Rockstar rarely launches games on time
Rockstar has a long history of announcing release dates and then missing them, so it was no surprise that GTA 6 was the latest example of this trend.
The majority of Rockstar's biggest games over the past decade-plus have all been delayed beyond their originally announced release windows, including Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto V, and Red Dead Redemption II. In all of these cases, Rockstar maintained that the decision to delay came down to choosing to focus on quality instead of rushing to market, and Rockstar has said the same thing about GTA 6 for each of its two delays so far.
Here is a brief history of Rockstar's delays for its big games:
- GTA 4 -- Was set to launch in October 2007 before being delayed to April 2008.
- GTA: Chinatown Wars -- Was set to release before the end of January 2009 before moving to April 2009.
- Red Dead Redemption -- Was lined up to release at the end of April 2010 before shifting to May 2010.
- GTA 5 -- Was originally scheduled for Spring 2013 before being delayed to September 2013.
- Red Dead Redemption 2 -- Was supposed to launch in 2017 before moving to Spring 2018 and then again to Fall 2018.
- GTA 5's PS5/Xbox Series X|S ports -- These new versions of GTA 5 were lined up to launch in November 2021 before being delayed to March 2022.
How big will GTA 6's release be?
Everyone assumes GTA 6 will be a gigantic success upon release. One analyst has predicted the game will sell 40 million copies and drive more than $3 billion in revenue in its first year. Back in 2013, GTA 5 needed just three days to clear $1 billion in revenue, and the game only grew from there.
While GTA 6 is expected to be a huge hit, people are "naive" to think one big release like this will help the video game industry overall rebound from its core issues today, according to one analyst.
Joost van Dreunen told IGN that people should not look to GTA 6 to help address the wider, more systemic issues impacting the video game business. Van Dreunen concurs that GTA 6 will be a massive launch, but said people are overly optimistic if they think GTA 6 is a magic bullet.
"After the high comes the hangover," he said. "I realize that many in the industry are looking forward to this undoubtedly pivotal moment. There's even a somewhat naive expectation that this one release will reverse the industry's current direction. It won't."
When GTA 6 comes out, gamers and investors alike will "enjoy their respective highs," but the painful comedown may come next.
"I expect a period of sobriety to follow. In the absence of any similar releases in the near future especially investors are likely to redeploy their capital elsewhere, thereby lowering the industry's overall valuation," he said.
The video game industry has faced cuts and setbacks in recent years, including a spate of mass layoffs, price increases, and numerous game cancellations.
People like former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden have been saying time and again that the AAA scene is unsustainable. In 2012, Assassin's Creed III director Alex Hutchinson said the pursuit of AAA games represents a "cancerous growth." Because of this, Hutchinson said he expects AAA games to die out. "I think that will leave the AAA blockbusters as nothing more than the last of the dinosaurs," he said.
What do we know about GTA 6?
Back in early 2022, Rockstar gave the first official statement about GTA 6, saying work was "well underway" on the game. "With every new project we embark on, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we have previously delivered--and we are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway," the developer said at the time.
The first trailer for GTA 6 came in December 2023, following a leak. The spectacular trailer, which used Tom Petty's "Love Is A Long Road," introduced fans to the game's setting of Vice City (the same setting as 2002's GTA: Vice City) and the wider state of Leonida, a stand-in for Florida. The trailer also provided the first look at the game's main characters, the lovers Jason and Lucia.
A second trailer was released in May 2025 to coincide with the delay from Fall 2025. This trailer impressed fans, too, showing off the game's vibrant world full of colorful characters. A website for GTA 6 went live at this time, too, providing a ton of information on the game's characters and setting.
Everyone is waiting for a third trailer, but as of yet, Rockstar has not released one or provided any word on when it could come. Beyond the game itself, a major discussion point around GTA 6 has been what its price will be. There has been ongoing chatter and debate about if Rockstar and Take-Two will follow Nintendo's Mario Kart World playbook and raise the price to $80, or possibly more. That remains to be seen, and there are some who believe a higher price point might not actually be a good thing.
As always, keep checking back with GameSpot for more on GTA 6.
content_text: Rockstar's highly anticipated open-world game GTA 6 was supposed to be released around right now, in Fall 2025, but the game has seen multiple delays since it was originally announced. Now, the game is slated for release in about a year on November 19, 2026, following a pushback from May 26, 2026.Why was GTA 6 delayed a second time? And how does the delay pattern for GTA 6 line up with Rockstar's previous releases? We're breaking down all the key things to know in this post.Rockstar's rationale for delaying GTA 6In early November, Rockstar announced that GTA 6 was being delayed by 5 months and 24 days, from May 26 to November 19. But why did Rockstar make the decision to delay the game once again? The company said it came down to quality. "These extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve," the studio said."We are sorry for adding additional time to what we realize has been a long wait," the team added.Rockstar is owned by Take-Two, and the company's CEO Strauss Zelnick said Rockstar is "seeking perfection" with GTA 6--and that takes time."When we set a date, we really do believe in it. We said when we set the last date, if a game requires more polish to be the best possible version of itself, then we will give that game more time. And that's exactly what happened."Zelnick said the company feels "really good" about the new November 2026 release date, and many have focused on this quote because it's exactly what Zelnick said--down to the same "really good" line--when GTA 6 was pushed from Fall 2025 to May 2026.For Zelnick, part of the reason he still feels "really good" about GTA 6's November 2026 release date is because it falls within the same fiscal year for Take-Two, thus allowing Take-Two to maintain its fiscal projections and keep investors satisfied. He's also excited by the fact that GTA 6 will release during the holiday season. "It happens to be a great release window, and naturally we're really supportive of Rockstar's approach," he said.GTA 6 launching during the busy holiday shopping season may be a boon for the game's sales, but Zelnick said previously that the game's release date within the calendar year doesn't matter much because of the incredible amount of pent-up demand for it. In short, Zelnick believes people will buy GTA 6 no matter when it's released, and no one is questioning that logic."Seeking perfection"One of the lines that Zelnick has repeated over and over is how Rockstar is "seeking perfection" with GTA 6, and this can be a slow process. "When we feel we've optimized creatively, that's the time to release," he said."There's inherent tension, potentially, between getting something to market and creating perfection," Zelnick added. "But this company errs on the side of perfection."In an interview with CNBC, Zelnick said, "What Rockstar Games puts into all of their titles is a desire for creative perfection, which is why it takes a long time and why it's complex. We don't claim success until it occurs."Zelnick's comments may make your eyes roll due to the corporate speak, but the executive is speaking from a position of strength--after all, GTA 5 sold more than 220 million copies and is among the best-selling games ever. Another Rockstar franchise overseen by Zelnick, Red Dead Redemption, is a sales juggernaut as well, with the sequel alone selling some 79 million copies.GTA 6 was not delayed due to Rockstar union controversyRockstar recently fired 30-40 workers in Scotland and Canada for what it called "gross misconduct" reportedly related to leaking secrets, not for trying to form a union. A UK union pushed back, saying Rockstar is blatantly and ruthlessly trying to block a union.More than 200 Rockstar workers signed a letter demanding that the fired staffers be reinstated. UK lawmakers have raised concerns about the Rockstar situation in proceedings recently. While this is all going on, reporter Jason Schreier of Bloomberg said these events are unrelated to GTA 6's latest delay to November 2026."This delay was not due to the firings... While the fallout from those firings could certainly have a long-term impact on the project and lead to more missed deadlines in the future--due to those vacant roles, protracted legal battles, morale loss, etc.--the game did not slip 6 months because 34 people were fired a week ago," he wrote.Rockstar rarely launches games on timeRockstar has a long history of announcing release dates and then missing them, so it was no surprise that GTA 6 was the latest example of this trend.The majority of Rockstar's biggest games over the past decade-plus have all been delayed beyond their originally announced release windows, including Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto V, and Red Dead Redemption II. In all of these cases, Rockstar maintained that the decision to delay came down to choosing to focus on quality instead of rushing to market, and Rockstar has said the same thing about GTA 6 for each of its two delays so far.Here is a brief history of Rockstar's delays for its big games:GTA 4 -- Was set to launch in October 2007 before being delayed to April 2008.GTA: Chinatown Wars -- Was set to release before the end of January 2009 before moving to April 2009.Red Dead Redemption -- Was lined up to release at the end of April 2010 before shifting to May 2010.GTA 5 -- Was originally scheduled for Spring 2013 before being delayed to September 2013.Red Dead Redemption 2 -- Was supposed to launch in 2017 before moving to Spring 2018 and then again to Fall 2018.GTA 5's PS5/Xbox Series X|S ports -- These new versions of GTA 5 were lined up to launch in November 2021 before being delayed to March 2022.How big will GTA 6's release be?Everyone assumes GTA 6 will be a gigantic success upon release. One analyst has predicted the game will sell 40 million copies and drive more than $3 billion in revenue in its first year. Back in 2013, GTA 5 needed just three days to clear $1 billion in revenue, and the game only grew from there.While GTA 6 is expected to be a huge hit, people are "naive" to think one big release like this will help the video game industry overall rebound from its core issues today, according to one analyst.Joost van Dreunen told IGN that people should not look to GTA 6 to help address the wider, more systemic issues impacting the video game business. Van Dreunen concurs that GTA 6 will be a massive launch, but said people are overly optimistic if they think GTA 6 is a magic bullet."After the high comes the hangover," he said. "I realize that many in the industry are looking forward to this undoubtedly pivotal moment. There's even a somewhat naive expectation that this one release will reverse the industry's current direction. It won't."When GTA 6 comes out, gamers and investors alike will "enjoy their respective highs," but the painful comedown may come next."I expect a period of sobriety to follow. In the absence of any similar releases in the near future especially investors are likely to redeploy their capital elsewhere, thereby lowering the industry's overall valuation," he said.The video game industry has faced cuts and setbacks in recent years, including a spate of mass layoffs, price increases, and numerous game cancellations.People like former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden have been saying time and again that the AAA scene is unsustainable. In 2012, Assassin's Creed III director Alex Hutchinson said the pursuit of AAA games represents a "cancerous growth." Because of this, Hutchinson said he expects AAA games to die out. "I think that will leave the AAA blockbusters as nothing more than the last of the dinosaurs," he said.What do we know about GTA 6?Back in early 2022, Rockstar gave the first official statement about GTA 6, saying work was "well underway" on the game. "With every new project we embark on, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we have previously delivered--and we are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway," the developer said at the time.The first trailer for GTA 6 came in December 2023, following a leak. The spectacular trailer, which used Tom Petty's "Love Is A Long Road," introduced fans to the game's setting of Vice City (the same setting as 2002's GTA: Vice City) and the wider state of Leonida, a stand-in for Florida. The trailer also provided the first look at the game's main characters, the lovers Jason and Lucia.A second trailer was released in May 2025 to coincide with the delay from Fall 2025. This trailer impressed fans, too, showing off the game's vibrant world full of colorful characters. A website for GTA 6 went live at this time, too, providing a ton of information on the game's characters and setting.Everyone is waiting for a third trailer, but as of yet, Rockstar has not released one or provided any word on when it could come. Beyond the game itself, a major discussion point around GTA 6 has been what its price will be. There has been ongoing chatter and debate about if Rockstar and Take-Two will follow Nintendo's Mario Kart World playbook and raise the price to $80, or possibly more. That remains to be seen, and there are some who believe a higher price point might not actually be a good thing. As always, keep checking back with GameSpot for more on GTA 6.
pub_date: 21 November 2025, 3:46 pm
guid: 1100-6536423
creator: Eddie Makuch
related_games:
processed: TRUE