Five years of waiting and another year of polishing: Take-Two explains GTA 6 delay as a "worthwhile investment"
Rockstar Games' parent company, Take-Two Interactive, has officially stated that GTA 6 has been in production for at least five years and assured that the recent delay will be a "worthy investment" in the quality of the final product.
Here's What We Know
Previously, it was believed that the full-fledged development of GTA 6 started immediately after the release of Rockstar's last big hit, Red Dead Redemption 2, in 2018. However, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick hinted in the company's earnings report that the active phase of development began only during the pandemic.
"Development of Grand Theft Auto VI began in earnest in 2020 after the huge success of Red Dead Redemption 2, and today this game is the most anticipated entertainment product of all time," Zelnick said.
Commenting on the decision to postpone the release of GTA 6 from 2025 to May 2026, Zelnick expressed confidence that the extra time will be good for the game.
"Rockstar is planning to release Grand Theft Auto VI on 26 May 2026, which falls in our 2027 fiscal year. I believe that giving Rockstar additional time for such a groundbreaking project is a worthy investment," he added, "The ambition and complexity of Grand Theft Auto VI is greater than any previous Rockstar game, and the team is ready to deliver another amazing entertainment experience that will exceed player expectations.
In a separate interview with IGN, Zelnick noted that as GTA 6's release date approached, the need for additional polish "became apparent" to the publisher, and expressed confidence that there would be no further postponements.
"I think historically, when we've set a specific date, we've generally been very good at sticking to it," he said. "As you get closer to the end of a project that's striving for perfection, the need or lack thereof for further polish becomes clear. In this case, an opportunity presented itself with a little bit of extra time, as we felt, to make sure Rockstar Games would achieve its creative vision without any constraints. And I certainly supported this approach."
GTA 6 is scheduled to release on 26 May 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series.
Source: IGN
