Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Grand Theft Auto‘s publisher Take-Two Interactive, says Grand Theft Auto 6 won’t be delayed for a third time despite rumors that it will miss its current November 19 release date. GTA 6 was first announced in a 2022 blog post, though fans wouldn’t receive their first look at the next entry in the open-world crime simulator until the first trailer was released at the end of 2023. The second trailer dropped in May 2025, and fans have been waiting for more footage from the highly anticipated game ever since.
GTA 6 fans thought that the 2025 release window was ambitious given the short length of time between when the first trailer was shown and when the game was supposed to be released. At the start of May 2025, Rockstar Games announced that GTA 6 would be delayed until May 26, 2026, and quickly soothed fans’ disappointment with a second trailer dropping just weeks later. A second delay was later announced, and while this release date change will supposedly be the last, fans are always anticipating the news that they won’t be able to roam the Leonida Keys this year.
It’s Officially Time to Start Worrying About Grand Theft Auto 6’s Release Date
Grand Theft Auto 6 has now entered its final pre-release stretch where continued radio silence from Rockstar can still be viewed as normal.
GTA 6 Won’t Be Delayed Again, Claims CEO
Speaking to David Senra on his YouTube channel, Zelnick claims that GTA 6 won’t be delayed again despite rumors to the contrary and a lack of updates from Rockstar Games. When asked how the CEO deals with everyone asking about GTA 6‘s release, Zelnick confidently reaffirmed the current release date, saying, “November 19, I do know. It’s been announced.” Senra then asks how Zelnick can say the date with such conviction, given the previous two delays, to which Zelnick replies, “I think we’re about 18 months behind the original date. [It’s] not much more than that.” The CEO hasn’t promised that it won’t be delayed again but seems firm in the current GTA 6 release date.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
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Zelnick says that GTA 6‘s release terrifies him, given the expectations for its success from both within the company and from the gaming industry as a whole. Despite this, in the interview, Zelnick claims that GTA is the most successful video game of all time “depend[ing] on how you count.” As Mario Kart and Call of Duty have more entries than GTA, the CEO is unsure if the open-world criminal adventure series has made the most revenue in gaming but believes that it’s “the most valuable IP ever created.” He won’t disclose the total revenue for GTA 5 but does admit that “it’s a lot.”
Since GTA 6 was delayed for a second time in November 2025, people have been waiting expectantly for the news that it won’t be launching in 2026. Recently, there have been a slew of rumors surrounding the next game in the open-world series with people claiming that Rockstar is preparing to announce another delay and also that the studio will be shadow-dropping a third trailer at any moment. The developer is notoriously tight with security for its games, particularly given the number of people that are desperate for more news on what will likely be gaming’s biggest ever release.
Fit the 9 games into the grid.
Rockstar Games is notorious for releasing GTA 6 trailers without warning fans beforehand. This is why people speculate that GTA 6‘s third trailer is imminent, despite no real evidence that suggests this. Some people are even livestreaming themselves waiting for the trailer to drop, with hundreds of people tuning in to hang out. Despite this, players will have to wait a little longer to find out whether Zelnick is telling the truth regarding the release date.
- Released
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November 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Rating Pending – Likely Mature 17+
