Grand Theft Auto 6's release date has finally been confirmed, but is no longer coming out in 2025 as planned. Instead, developer Rockstar has announced that the highly anticipated GTA 6 will instead be launching on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.
That's at least five months later than originally planned. Although a specific release date hadn't been revealed, Rockstar had long since confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 6 would come out during late 2025. Nevertheless, the company has announced across social media that the game has been hit with the massive delay. The embedded Instagram post below contains the full statement.
Understanding the immediate upset the delay would cause, the GTA maker followed their quick-to-the-point delay announcement with trying to show empathy to their audience and clarifying why this is happening. Citing both the appreciated excitement players have had for the game — ever since the drop of its first and only trailer in December 2023 — the statement elaborates on needed quality improvements, which has usually been the case for games being pushed back in recent years.
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The latter half of the statement from Rockstar says: "With every game released, the goal has always been to try and exceed your expectations, and Grand Theft Auto VI is no exception. We hope you understand that we need this extra time to deliver at the level of you expect and deserve".
"We look forward to sharing more information with you soon".
Depending on who you ask, GTA 6 being delayed is either a major surprise or was merely inevitable. While we previously knew that the game's initial Fall 2025 release date for Xbox and PS5 was still on target — based on a February 6 earnings call with Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar's parent company — fans, journalists, and industry analysts alike couldn't help but notice there was next-to-no marketing since that aforementioned December 2023 announcement trailer.
Another earnings call planned for May 15, 2025 had fans hope we'd get another confirmation of a launch this year, but those aspirations are up in smoke.
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With GTA 6's release date now being a year and three weeks away, one user on X's response to the delay summed up the reaction for many. They said: "I screamed for a sec then I read '2026', now I'm crying".
Another user said: "HAHAHA GOOD ONE ROCKSTAR, BUT THIS IS MAY 2ND NOT APRIL 1ST", implying it sounds more like an April Fool's Day joke.
Others were both upset and understanding, like Synth Potato, who said "On one hand, this is disappointing. On the other, I really hope this extra time means we get an incredible complete experience on launch just like RDR2 was".
"Good luck on development. We will be there".
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Fortnite leaker, Shiina, accurately touched on an important point, saying: "So many other games will finally announce their Q3/Q4 release dates now". Given developers and publishers were delaying announcements or confirmed release dates of their games to stay out of GTA 6's way, the new Grand Theft Auto not coming out for a whole year will give them plenty of breathing room.
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GTA 6's delay has already been such a big shock to fans, those have even included those working for big brands as well — including Razer, Opera GX, X-Zero Energy.
Arguably the best brand reaction so far is the UK Domino's X account: advising Rockstar to "call [them] if you need help delivering".
As we know from other previously delayed games, developers and publishers pushing a release date back does overall improve the product and make the wait worthwhile. For instance, Assassin's Creed Shadows was delayed from Fall 2024 into February 2025, and launched with next-to-no troublesome bugs.
Be that as it may, just having one delay and confirming GTA 6's release date doesn't mean it's immune from pushed back further. In the meantime, we'll let you know as quickly as possible.