Why Is GTA 6 Taking So Long? 13 Years, Explained

It will be about 13 years between Grand Theft Auto V (September 2013) and Grand Theft Auto VI, now set for 19 November 2026. The reasons are layered, and the sources agree on the outline more than on the detail.

1. Another game came first

Bloomberg's October 2026 feature, by Jason Schreier, reports that Red Dead Redemption 2 took priority at Rockstar. That game shipped in October 2018. Reports of the feature add that its growing scope pulled senior staff away for years. Rockstar kept supporting GTA Online and other work in that time too, so this is not "five years of nothing".

2. A later start than you'd think

Take-Two's CEO said in May 2025 that GTA VI "began development in earnest in 2020". "In earnest" does not mean "from scratch". A former Rockstar developer says he worked on it in 2018, so earlier groundwork existed.

3. The date slipped twice

The first target was 2025. It moved to 26 May 2026, then to 19 November 2026, announced on 6 November 2025. Rockstar's reason was more time for polish.

Both sides

• Team Wait: Take-Two's CEO called the extra time "a worthy investment".
• Team Ship-It: the first promise was 2025, and every slip is another year of waiting.

Coverage of the Bloomberg piece also lists other disruptions: the 2022 leak, the pandemic and a return-to-office mandate. Outlets disagree on how much each one mattered, so we haven't put numbers on them.

The release date can still change. We checked it against Take-Two's August 2026 results on 20 October 2026.

Sources

• Bloomberg Businessweek, October 2026, Jason Schreier's feature on the making of GTA VI (we read it through outlet coverage)
• Video Games Chronicle, 15 May 2025, on Take-Two's earnings call
• Take-Two Interactive, Q1 fiscal 2027 results, August 2026
• Gematsu, December 2023, on the first trailer and the 2025 window
• Rockstar Games, announcement of the new launch date, November 2025

Nova Decodes is not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive. Nova and her voice are AI-generated.

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