Take-Two, the company that owns Rockstar Games, has clarified when exactly Grand Theft Auto VI began development, and it might be later than you thought.
In the company’s latest earnings report, Take-Two said the game began development “in earnest” in 2020 after Red Dead Redemption II came out in 2018. A key clarifier here is what Take-Two means by “in earnest.” We don’t know for sure, but it’s likely this is in reference to full production as opposed to early-stage development. Oftentimes in game development, smaller teams map out projects before ramping up.
GTA V was released in September 2013 for PS3 and Xbox 360 and the game grew substantially over the years with more and more content and features for the uber-popular GTA Online mode. Additionally, Rockstar’s teams brought GTA V to PS4 and Xbox One in November 2014 and the PC in April 2015. Versions of the game for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S came out in 2022. In total, GTA V has sold more than 215 million copies.
Another key thing to know is that for the past 10+ years, Rockstar’s teams across the world have worked in tandem on whatever the studio is making next, and this likely applies to GTA 6 as well.
Also during the earnings briefing, Take-Two said the “ambition and complexity” of GTA 6 is greater than any past Rockstar release. CEO Strauss Zelnick said GTA 6 was delayed from Fall 2025 to May 2026 due in part to a need for additional polish as part of Rockstar’s effort to achieve “perfection.”
“In this case there was an opportunity with a small amount of incremental time, we thought, to make sure Rockstar Games achieves its creative vision with no limitations. And I supported of course that approach,” he said. “While of course, delays pain me–how could they not?–the most important thing to do is to support your teams in their search for perfection.”
Addressing the long wait for GTA 6, Zelnick told The Game Business that while fans have been waiting more than a decade for the next entry in the numbered series, he believes Rockstar’s teams have been giving fans what amounts to “a new Grand Theft Auto release” multiple times per year via GTA Online.
“Rockstar has been supplying content to Grand Theft Auto Online, some of which is so robust that if you go back 15 years, it would have counted as a standalone title,” he said. “One could really argue that Rockstar has been putting out a new Grand Theft Auto release a couple of times a year. Same thing holds true for Red Dead Online, which has been on-going. And in the most recent quarter, Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Online has exceeded expectations.”
GTA 6 launches on May 26, 2026 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. In other Rockstar news, it’s been reported that the studio is bringing Red Dead Redemption 2 to Switch 2.
