The developer's long-awaited Grand Theft Auto VI, initially scheduled to arrive on May 26 the coming year, has been postponed once more – now to the conclusion of 2026. It has now been close to 24 months since the game was announced, and over a dozen years since Grand Theft Auto V was released on the gaming scene.
“GTA VI will now release on Thursday, November 19, 2026,” states the company's announcement on X. “We apologize for adding additional time to what we recognize has been a long wait, but these extra months will allow us to complete the game with the quality you have grown accustomed to and rightly merit.”
The long-anticipated title features a intimately linked pair of criminals named Lucia and Jason in the developer's sun-bleached version of Miami, Vice City, and the wider Florida-inspired state of Leonida. Work has been underway at the Edinburgh studio in Edinburgh, with support from the developer's additional teams in New York and worldwide, since 2018. Its initial launch timeframe was late 2025.
It has been anticipated that Grand Theft Auto VI would revive an ailing gaming sector, which has seen a decline after a pandemic-driven surge. Based on publishing giant Take-Two Interactive's most recent earnings statements, its forerunner Grand Theft Auto V has generated $8.6 billion since its 2013 release. Rockstar’s previous title, the critically acclaimed Red Dead Redemption 2, was released in 2018 and achieved $725 million in sales over its first weekend.
Players, meanwhile, have had a exceptionally lengthy period to anticipate Rockstar’s latest: even by the standards of the video games industry, where six-year development periods for blockbuster games are commonplace, the more than 12-year wait for Grand Theft Auto VI has been extensive.
