With a Rockstar earnings call coming up soon, speculation ramped up regarding the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6, thanks to an updated PlayStation Store page listing. Well, no need to speculate anymore as Rockstar Games just tweeted out a major delay for GTA 6.
Hi everyone,Grand Theft Auto VI will now release on Thursday, November 19, 2026.We are sorry for adding additional time to what we realize has been a long wait, but these extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and… pic.twitter.com/yLX9KIiDzXNovember 6, 2025
The missive goes on to say that Rockstar needs the extra months for additional polish. “We are incredibly excited for players to experience the sprawling state of Leonida and a return to modern day Vice City,” a follow-up tweet says.
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Previously, it was expected that the GTA 5 sequel would drop on May 26, 2026. That delayed date was announced this past May by Rockstar.
“We hope you understand that we need this extra time to deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve,” a press release said at the time.
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,”
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick
Even that date was questioned since Red Dead Redemption 2 was also promised a spring release before it too was delayed to a fall launch.
This new date may be more solid though. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick spoke with The Game Business saying that the company feels good about the date.
“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. “We feel really good about this release date. It’s in the same fiscal year, it happens to be a great release window, and naturally we’re really supportive of Rockstar’s approach.”
That sentiment is the same as what Zelnick expressed when the game was supposed to launch this year.
It’s been six months since the last GTA 6 trailer, so people were expecting some kind of announcement ahead of the Rockstar and Take-Two earnings call taking place this week. The first GTA 6 trailer was previously announced before an earnings call.
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GTA 6 delay: Fan reactions
Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 2 – YouTube
It’s been 12 years since GTA 5 was released to acclaim, which launched nine years after Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. Rockstar likes to take its time, not a given in the video game industry.
Fans reacted on X (nee Twitter) mostly with jokes. One of the first tweets underneath the announcement asks, “When do you all think GTA 7 comes out?”
The GTA 6 subreddit was a bit angrier with one poster calling it “insane.”
Several posted similar jokes along the lines of thinking the game was coming out much later and applauding Rockstar for getting it out sooner than anticipated. There’s also the common refrain that many of them will likely die of old age before the next GTA actually hits consoles.
Outlook
Considering GTA 6 was already delayed before, it’s actually surprising that publisher Take-Two and Zelnick are cool with this new delay.
“There have been limited circumstances where more time was required to polish a title and make sure that it was spectacular and that time has been well-spent,” Zelnick told IGN. “When our competitors go to market before something was ready, bad things happen.”
Outside of Take-Two’s financial ambitions, Rockstar and the GTA franchise aren’t hurting. GTA Online and GTA V continue to rake in money. In May, our colleagues at GamesRader reported that GTA 5 still sells 5 million units every three months. Red Dead Redemption 2 sold 4 million units in the first quarter of 2025 alone.
With that in mind, sales for GTA 6 are expected to be astronomic. And as one former dev told GamesRadar, Rockstar won’t release the game until it’s “100% happy with it.”
In the meantime, Rockstar has been accused of union-busting and claiming that a spate of recent firings were due to leaks of “confidential information” and not to potential unions.
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