Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick Reaffirms GTA 6 Release Date, Says Game Was Delayed by 18 Months

Grand Theft Auto 6 is set to launch on November 19, but developer Rockstar Games hasn't yet announced pre-order and pricing details for the game. The open world crime title seems locked in for launch later this year after two delays that pushed the game beyond its original 2025 launch window. Now, Take-Two has reaffirmed that GTA 6 will launch on November 19, 2026.

In a new interview with podcaster David Senra, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick confirmed, once again, that GTA 6 will be released later this year. Zelnick also said that the game had been delayed 18 months from its original release date, which would mean that the game had been internally pushed before it was delayed twice publicly.

GTA 6 Delays

Grand Theft Auto 6 was initially confirmed for fall 2025, before being delayed to May 26, 2026. Late last year, Rockstar delayed the game a second time to November 19, 2026. The timeline would suggest that Grand Theft Auto 6 was delayed a year. But Zelnick confirmed that the game was “about 18 months behind the original date, not much more than that.”

An 18-month delay to November 2026 would mean that GTA 6 was initially planned to launch around spring 2025, instead of fall 2025 — which was the first official launch window shared by Take-Two. It could thus be possible that GTA 6 was internally delayed from the first half of 2025 to fall 2025, then officially pushed back twice — first to May 26, 2026, then to November 19, 2026.

Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson confirmed the same on X, too, responding to a claim about a possible unconfirmed internal delay.

With multiple delays in the rearview, Grand Theft Auto 6 should now launch as scheduled without any further interruptions. The launch marketing for the game should begin soon this summer.

Recent leaks have suggested that a third GTA 6 trailer could arrive soon. Last week, a Best Buy affiliate sent emails to customers claiming pre-orders for the game would go live on May 18. That did not happen. Rockstar is also yet to release a third trailer for GTA 6.