GTA 6 delay is to give Rockstar 'no limitations' as Take-Two commits to new date
While the delay of GTA 6 to May 26 next year wasn't exactly surprising, if you're familiar with Rockstar's history, it has still had a sizeable impact on the industry at large.
According to reports, the announcement has sparked panic at rival publishers, as they try to avoid the game's release date, but also worry about another potential delay beyond May 2026.
Rockstar's parent company, Take-Two, has now commented on the prospect of that happening, as it attempts to provide some reassurance.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick addressed the game's delay in an interview with IGN, where it was described as a necessary move to allow GTA 6 to fulfil its 'creative vision with no limitations'.
'As we get closer to completion of a title that's seeking perfection, the needs or lack thereof, for continued polish become clear,' Zelnick said. '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.'
Earlier this month, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier claimed the delay to next year 'seemed inevitable', due to a mix of 'too much work, not enough time, and what appears to be a real desire from management to avoid brutal crunch'.
As for whether Zelnick is confident GTA 6 will hit this new release date, he added: 'I think historically when we set a specific date, generally speaking, we've been very good about reaching it.'
While this comment suggests GTA 6 will not be pushed back again, Zelnick doesn't rule it out entirely. Rockstar is no stranger to delaying games multiple times either, as seen with Red Dead Redemption 2, so there's still a chance this could happen with GTA 6.
There's also the fact that Zelnick repeatedly insisted that GTA 6 wasn't going to be delayed at all… until it was. When it comes to things like that, his primary concern is placating investors, so his comments should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Zelnick further addressed the game's delay during Take-Two's Q4 2025 earnings call, where he confirmed that GTA 6 began development 'in earnest' in 2020.
'Rockstar expects to release GTA 6 on May 26, 2026, which is in our fiscal year 2027,' Zelnick said. 'I believe affording Rockstar additional time for such a groundbreaking project is a worthy investment.
'The ambition and complexity of GTA 6 is greater than any previous Rockstar title, and the team is poised to release another astonishing entertainment experience that will exceed players' expectations.'
In a Q&A with investors, Zelnick was asked about the publisher's support of the Nintendo Switch 2, where he outlined how the company will bring titles to the console on a 'case-by-case basis'.
'We're launching four titles with Nintendo Switch 2 [Civilization 7, Borderlands 4, NBA 2K26, and WWE 2K25], and that's I think a bigger array of releases than we've ever offered before with a new Nintendo platform,' Zelnick said. Historically, being a third party in the Nintendo business has been a bit challenging. I think Nintendo has been very forthcoming in addressing that. And we're stepping up too, because we have great optimism for the platform. More Trending
'In terms of what we would bring to any platform, we address it on a case-by-case basis, we obviously want to be where the consumers are. But we would not necessarily bring every title to every platform. There are also great catalogue opportunities as well.'
While the technical requirements of GTA 6 (based on the trailers, at least) seem to rule out any potential Switch 2 port, the last sentence suggests we could see past games in the series on the console – maybe even the rumoured remaster of GTA 4.
Elsewhere in the earnings report, Take-Two announced GTA 5 has sold over 215 million copies, a five million increase from February this year. Meanwhile, Red Dead Redemption 2 sold three million copies within the past three months, bringing its lifetime sales to 74 million.
Considering GTA 5 came out over a decade ago in 2013, it's astonishing that it's still selling millions of copies all these years later. Coupled with Take-Two's strong release slate for the rest of this year, it's perhaps understandable why Take-Two is in no rush to get GTA 6 out the door.
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