Players looking forward to Rockstar Games' next open-world crime blockbuster will be waiting a fair bit longer. The developer shared on Thursday via X (formerly Twitter) that Grand Theft Auto 6 is being delayed to Nov. 22, 2026.
"We are sorry for adding additional time to what we realize has been a long wait, but these extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve," the developer statement reads.
Notably, this is the second time the game has been publicly delayed, with Grand Theft Auto 6 first being pushed out of Fall 2025 to May 26, 2026.
In a call accompanying the financial results of Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two Interactive, CEO Strauss Zelnick said the delay was driven by the desire to deliver as "perfect" a product as possible.
Grand Theft Auto 6 follows two protagonists, Lucia Caminos and Jason Duval, who struggle through the criminal underworld of Vice City (read: Miama) in the state of Leonida (read: Florida).
As one of the last major developers still eschewing day one Windows PC releases, Rockstar Games has previously confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 6 will be launching on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.
Other game developers will be taking note
With Grand Theft Auto 6 moving to a new date, a large number of game developers will be breathing huge sighs of relief, while others are inventing new forms of profanity not previously imagined.
I wouldn't be surprised if any smaller or mid-size games targetting the fall are going to be delayed into early 2027 at this point. There might even be discussions around larger games being moved around, or possibly launching earlier than intended if it's somehow possible.
Several major games slated to arrive in 2026 do not have release dates, including PlayStation Studios and Insomniac Games' Marvel's Wolverine, as well as multiple Xbox Game Studios titles such as Halo Studios' Halo: Campaign Evolved and Playground Games' Fable.
As Rockstar works toward a new date, the company is accused of violating labor rights
This also comes as Rockstar Games has recently been accused of union-busting, with the developer firing 30 to 40 employees that the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) says were discussing unionization in a Discord group chat.
Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two Interactive has backed the developer, saying that the employees were fired for "gross misconduct."
In a later statement, a Rockstar games spokesperson told Bloomberg that the terminated employees were leaking sensitive information.
“Last week, we took action against a small number of individuals who were found to be distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum, a violation of our company policies,” the spokesperson said. “This was in no way related to people’s right to join a union or engage in union activities.”
FAQ
When is Grand Theft Auto 6's release date?
Grand Theft Auto 6 is now scheduled to launch on Nov. 19, 2026. This follows two delays, with the game originally being slated to arrive back in late 2025 before being pushed to May 2026, and then now to November 2026.
Why was Grand Theft Auto 6 delayed again?
Rockstar Games says Grand Theft Auto 6 was delayed again in order to make sure it is as polished as possible, which required extra time for the developers to do.
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