One of the biggest questions coming into 2025 was whether Grand Theft Auto 6 would somehow get delayed. Earlier this month, Rockstar Games revealed it would. The head of its parent company now says that delay was necessary to help the studio deliver the game without compromises. Will it get delayed again? Don’t count on it.
Originally set for release in the fall 2025 window, GTA 6 is now coming out on May 26, 2026. “I think historically when we set a specific date, generally speaking, we’ve been very good about reaching it,” Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told IGN ahead of the company’s latest earnings report on Thursday. Why the delay after Zelnick himself kept telling investors he felt “highly confident” and “really good” about hitting its original 2025 schedule?
“As we get closer to completion of a title that’s seeking perfection, the needs or lack thereof, for continued polish become clear,” the executive told IGN. “In this case there was an opportunity with a small amount of incremental time, we thought, to make sure Rockstar Games achieves its creative vision with no limitations. And I supported, of course, that approach.”
He also stressed that Rockstar didn’t begin development on GTA 6 “in earnest” until 2020, two years after the launch of Red Dead Redemption 2 and seven years after GTA 5 originally came to PlayStation 3 and Xbox One. Shortly after the delay was announced, Rockstar showed off its work with the sequel’s most extensive trailer yet and a wealth of screenshots, all apparently captured in-game. The fidelity on display has been blowing fans and other game developers away so far.
Take-Two also might have felt a bit better about the delay given that 2025 is already a crowded year for the publisher. It has Mafia: The Old Country coming out in August and Borderlands 4 releasing in September. That’s on top of Civilization 7 earlier in the year, and the continuing popularity of Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Online. Zelnick called the decision to hold GTA 6 until next year a “worthwhile investment.”
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