“We are very sorry that this is later than you expected," Rockstar Games said in its announcement.
Grand Theft Auto 6 was intially set for launch in Fall 2025
Photo Credit: Rockstar Games
Grand Theft Auto 6 has been delayed and will now launch on May 26, 2026, Rockstar Games announced Friday. The long-awaited title, which was announced in December 2023, was set for release in Fall 2025, a window confirmed several times by Rockstar parent Take-Two Interactive. While GTA 6 finally has a concrete release date, the studio did not share a new trailer or screenshots from the game. Rockstar, however, promised fans it would share more information on the game “soon”.
“Grand Theft Auto VI is now set to release on May 26, 2026,” Rockstar said in its only official update on GTA 6 since the game was revealed. “We are very sorry that this is later than you expected. The interest and excitement surrounding a new Grand Theft Auto has been truly humbling for our entire team. We want to thank you for your support and your patience as we work to finish the game,” the developer said.
Rockstar said it needed additional development time to ensure GTA 6 launches at a quality standard people have come to expect from the studio. The delay would likely be utilised to polish the game further before it launches on PS5 and Xbox Series S/X.
“With every game we have released, the goal has always been to try and exceed your expectations, and Grand Theft Auto VI is no exception. We hope you understand that we need this extra time to deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve,” Rockstar said. “We look forward to sharing more information with you soon.”
The delay is likely to disappoint fans waiting years for GTA 6 to launch. When Rockstar released the first trailer for the game on December 5, 2023, it merely confirmed the game would come out in 2025. Take-Two later confirmed the Fall 2025 launch window in a quarterly earnings call, a timeline that has been reiterated by Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick several times.
More recently, Zelnick said Take-Two and Rockstar had opted not to reveal release date information for GTA 6 long in advance to maintain anticipation for the launch.
"The anticipation for that title may be the greatest anticipation I've ever seen for an entertainment property, and I've been around the block a few times, and I've been in every entertainment business there is. And we want to maintain the anticipation and the excitement,” Zelnick told Bloomberg earlier this year.
"We do have competitors who will describe their release schedule for years in advance, and we've found that the better thing to do is to provide marketing materials relatively close to the release window in order to create that excitement on the one hand and balance the excitement with unmet anticipation. We don't always get it exactly right, but that's what we're trying to do.”
Now that GTA 6 release date is confirmed, a host of other games will have a clearer runway for launch in late 2025. Earlier this week, Gearbox announced it was moving Borderlands 4 launch up two weeks to September 12, sparking speculation that the studio was aware of Rockstar's release plans for GTA — not a far-fetched idea considering Gearbox is also owned by Take-Two Interactive.
Last week, Sony confirmed that its first-party action-adventure title Ghost of Yotei would launch on October 2. Now that GTA 6 is confirmed for 2026, More games slated to come out this year are likely to set definitive launch dates.
With the absence of any official update on the game from Rockstar, a delay was always a possibility. Eager fans have been clamouring for the studio to release the second trailer for the game, but it has remained tight-lipped and held its cards close to its chest. GTA 6 has not received a single official update — no trailer, no screenshots, no story or gameplay details — since it was revealed with the Internet-breaking first trailer over 16 months ago.
The delay is also not surprising considering Rockstar Games has pushed back the releases of Grand Theft Auto games in the past, as well. Grand Theft Auto 5 was initially set for launch in Q2 2013, but was delayed to its eventual release date of September 17, 2023. GTA 4 was set to release on October 16, 2007, but was pushed to April 29, 2028, over difficulties in developing the game for the PS3.
The GTA 6 delay is significant, with the game being pushed months beyond its Fall 2025 release window. It will now launch on May 26, 2026, on PS5 and Xbox Series S/X. Rockstar is likely to share more details and a second trailer for the title sometime later this year.
Catch the latest from the Consumer Electronics Show on Gadgets 360, at our CES 2026 hub.