Grand Theft Auto VI has once again been delayed, this time to November 19, 2026. The game, which is a sequel to a title that was released over 12 years ago, was previously set for autumn 2025, before getting delayed to May 2026.
The news came in publisher Take Two’s quarterly earnings presentation, in which they described the rationale behind the delay as follows: “Rockstar Games has announced that Grand Theft Auto VI will now be released on November 19, 2026, giving the team some additional time to finish the game with the high level of polish players expect and deserve. Rockstar has our full support of course, and we are confident they will deliver an unrivalled blockbuster entertainment experience.”
This probably goes without saying, but Grand Theft Auto VI is going to sell a bunch of copies when it comes out. Ampere Analysis estimated that last year’s delay singlehandedly wiped an estimated $2.7 billion from the game industry in 2025 in the form of missed content and console sales.
Meanwhile, people somewhat unsurprisingly freaked out over the news of yesterday’s delay, with some lamenting that they probably won’t live long enough to see the next game—if history repeats itself, GTA VII could come out around 2040.
Rockstar has not been making good headlines as of late: earlier this week, they fired several employees in what was described as a “blatant and ruthless” case of union busting by the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB).
All of the employees were either members of a union or were attempting to organize and were part of a private Discord server aimed at coordinating labor organization efforts. Rockstar alleged that the workers were fired for “misconduct” and leaking information, but failed to provide evidence to support their claims. In reaction to the firings, the IWGB coordinated protests outside of several Rockstar Games office buildings.
The company is no stranger to controversy, and in addition to its games frequently ending up at the center of the cultural zeitgeist, it has previously been the subject of scrutiny over repeated allegations of subjecting its employees to severe crunch and overwork.
All things considered, it seems we’ll have to wait at least a year longer to see if Grand Theft Auto VI grows out of the series’ penchant for juvenile humor and lazy cynicism.
