GTA 6 Release Date: Everything Rockstar Has Confirmed
Grand Theft Auto VI is, as of this writing, the most anticipated piece of entertainment on the planet. Below is the complete record of what Rockstar Games and parent company Take-Two Interactive have actually said publicly about when the game is launching — separated cleanly from speculation.
The official timeline
- February 2022 — Rockstar Games confirmed in a community post that "active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway." This was the first official acknowledgment GTA 6 existed.
- September 2022 — A massive leak of in-development footage hit forums. Rockstar confirmed the leak was real and stated it would not affect the development timeline.
- November 2023 — Rockstar announced the first trailer would arrive in early December.
- December 4, 2023 — Trailer 1 released a day early after it leaked. Rockstar confirmed the game would launch in 2025 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
- May 2024 — Take-Two reaffirmed a Fall 2025 launch on its earnings call.
- May 2025 — Rockstar announced the game was being delayed to Fall 2026, citing a need for additional polish.
What "Fall 2026" actually means
Take-Two's fiscal calendar runs April to March, so "Fall 2026" in their language means roughly September through November of 2026. Historically, Rockstar's biggest releases have landed in this exact window:
- GTA V — September 17, 2013
- Red Dead Redemption 2 — October 26, 2018
- GTA IV — April 29, 2008 (the outlier)
If precedent holds, expect a launch date somewhere between mid-September and late October 2026.
Will it slip again?
Rockstar has delayed every one of its last four major releases at least once. Take-Two's CEO Strauss Zelnick has publicly emphasized polish over ship date in nearly every earnings call since the trailer dropped. A second delay is not the base case, but it would not be unprecedented.
"We are at our best when we take the time we need." — Rockstar's standard line on delays, repeated in nearly every public statement since 2018.
Pre-orders
As of May 2026, Rockstar has not opened pre-orders. Historically the studio opens pre-orders 4-6 months before a launch. Expect pre-order availability sometime between June and August 2026 at the earliest.
Sources: Rockstar Games official newsroom, Take-Two Interactive earnings call transcripts (Q4 FY2024, Q1 FY2025, Q4 FY2025), Rockstar Games newswire posts.