GTA 6 Reportedly Still Not 'Content Complete', but New Release Date More 'Real' and 'Solid' Than Last One

Grand Theft Auto 6 was twice delayed before settling on its current release date of November 19, 2026. While Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has said he is “highly confident” in that launch date, fans are anxious over the possibility of GTA 6 being delayed a third time, considering the scope of the project and a lack of new updates from developer Rockstar Games. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, however, has said that GTA 6 was not content complete the last he heard and could be delayed again, but added that the new release date felt more "real" and "solid".

Speaker on the latest episode of the Ringer-Verse's Button Mash podcast, Schreier talked about the state of GTA 6 development and the possibility of another delay. The Bloomberg journalist compared Rockstar's next game's release timeline to its last one, Red Dead Redemption 2.

Rockstar Games had initially announced Red Dead Redemption 2 for fall 2017, before it was delayed to spring 2018. The Western action-adventure game was pushed back one more time to the fall window, finally releasing on October 26, 2028. Schreier said he wouldn't be “super shocked” if the same happens in the case of GTA 6.

Grand Theft Auto 6's first trailer dropped on December 3, 2023, confirming a 2025 release window. Later, Take-Two interactive confirmed it was targeting a fall 2025 launch for GTA 6. In May 2025, Rockstar publically delayed the game for the first time, pushing the release date to May 26, 2026. Six months later in November, the studio delayed GTA 6 a second time, setting the game's current launch date of November 19, 2026.

Looking at the delays and eventual release of Red Dead Redemption 2 as a marker, GTA 6 should then end up launching later this year without any further major delays.

GTA 6 Still Not 'Content Complete'

Schreier, however, said on the podcast that the game wasn't content complete the last he heard. “This time around, this is a big and complicated game, and the last I heard, it was still not content complete. That is to say that people were still finishing things up, still finalizing levels and missions, and seeing what's going to make it into the game,” he said.

“Typically, the way that game development works, you have your feature complete, your content complete, your bug testing phases, and there's a lot of boundaries blurred along the way in all of those different stages. But they are still making stuff, and we'll hopefully be done with that soon, and just have a whole bunch of time for fixing bugs. But even during those phases, there's always someone who wants to sneak in some last-minute stuff,” he added.

Schreier, however, stressed that GTA 6's new November 19, 2026, release date felt a little more “real” and a little bit more “solid” than the fall 2025 launch window and even the previous May 26 release date did.

GTA 6 got a second trailer on May 6, 2025
Photo Credit: Rockstar Games

Rockstar Aiming for 'Perfection'

The Bloomberg journalist further said that the stakes associated with GTA 6 were so high that Rockstar and its parent Take-Two wouldn't settle for anything less than “perfection” with the release — “The stock of Take-Two lives or dies on this game. Every time this game slips, their shares drop 10 percent, I should say. So yeah, it's not something that they will release in any sort of compromised state. So, even if it comes to October and they're like, ‘you know, the game is not a 100 percent ready,' I suspect they would rather slip than release it.”

The last time Rockstar Games delayed GTA 6, the studio said the additional development time would allow it to further polish the game and release it at a level of quality people expect from a GTA release.

“We want to thank you again for your patience and support. While the wait is a little longer, we are incredibly excited for players to experience,” the developer said in its update.

Following the second delay, Zelnick, the Take-Two boss, said he was “highly confident” in the new release date.