Rockstar Games has announced the new release date for GTA 6 – and confirmed an unexpected delay. The CEO of Take-Two is spreading confidence.
GTA 6 will no longer be released in 2025!
Rockstar Games has finally announced a specific release date for Grand Theft Auto 6 – and at the same time confirmed a delay until 2026.
As the studio announced on the X platform (formerly Twitter), the highly anticipated open-world game GTA 6 will now be released on May 26, 2026. This means that the previously planned release date of fall 2025 will not happen.
Update at 3:15 p.m.:
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has now issued a statement regarding the delay, which is addressed to investors and shareholders of the GTA 6 publisher:
“We fully support Rockstar Games in taking additional time to deliver on their creative vision for Grand Theft Auto 6, which promises to be a groundbreaking blockbuster entertainment experience that will exceed the expectations of the audience.
We take the development of our titles very seriously and are excited about the huge and deep anticipation for Grand Theft Auto 6, but we remain committed to our goal. With the continued release of our phenomenal pipeline, we expect a multi-year growth phase in our business and value creation for our shareholders.”
Take-Two will release its latest quarterly figures on May 15, 2025. Although GTA 6, the biggest hit in the publisher’s lineup, will not be released this year (and therefore not in the 2026 fiscal year, which has already begun), the company expects record sales.
Original message:
“Grand Theft Auto 6 will now be released on May 26, 2026. We are very sorry that this is later than you expected,” the statement said.
Rockstar Games points to the enormous response to the title:
“The interest and enthusiasm surrounding a new Grand Theft Auto has been overwhelming for our entire team. We want to thank you for your support and patience as we work to complete the game.”
Grand Theft Auto VI is now set to release on May 26, 2026. https://t.co/YgaIn1cYc8 pic. twitter.com/cyeK7GM6Ob
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) May 2, 2025
More time for polishing
The developers emphasize how important the quality of the final product is to them:
With every game we’ve released, our goal has always been to exceed expectations – and Grand Theft Auto 6 is no exception. We hope you understand that we need this extra time to deliver the quality you expect and deserve.
The new release date marks a significant delay of a good six months.
The anticipation is hard to overstate: the first trailer, released in December 2023, is one of the most successful game trailers of all time with over 170 million views.
GTA 6 returns to a popular location from the past: Vice City from the GTA game of the same name, released in 2002, is once again the setting. In addition, a female main character will be playable for the first time.
You can see what else we know about GTA 6 in the video above.
Fans will have to wait until early summer 2026. In the meantime, its predecessor, GTA 5, is still one of the most played games of all time.
It remains to be seen whether GTA 6 will be able to surpass this success when it is released on May 26, 2026. One thing is certain: the stage is set for the next blockbuster.
