As we slowly inch closer to the November 19th release date for Grand Theft Auto 6, the CEO of Rockstar Games’ parent company, Take-Two Interactive, Strauss Zelnick, has revealed that the studio is currently around 18 months behind on its development timeline for the game. In an interview with David Senra, Zelnick was asked about the development timeline for the game and how it slipped past the studio.
As the two discussed how Grand Theft Auto 6 is likely going to be one of the biggest releases in the industry, Zelnick once more reiterated the fact that it will come out on November 19th. “I think we’re about 18 months behind the original date,” said Zelnick when discussing the title’s two delays. “Not much more than that.”
Counting backwards from the current release date of Grand Theft Auto 6, the 18-month mark indicates that the original plans for releasing the title would be in May 2025.
It is worth noting that Rockstar Games had previously aimed for a 2025 release window, which would ultimately get pushed back to 2026. Interestingly, it was going to come out on May 26th before the studio announced that it needed more time to work on the game, leading to its current November 19th release date.
Zelnick has previously spoken about the title’s first delay, calling it a painful decision that had to be made to ensure that Rockstar Games could achieve its “creative vision with no limitations.”
“As we get closer to completion of a title that’s seeking perfection, the needs or lack thereof, for continued polish become clear,” Zelnick said at the time. “In this case, there was an opportunity with a small amount of incremental time, we thought, to make sure Rockstar Games achieves its creative vision with no limitations. And I supported, of course, that approach.”
As for its current release date, Zelnick said back in November 2025 that there are no more plans for any delays. He said that the company feels “really good about this release date”.
“When we set a date, we really do believe in it,” said Zelnick. “We said when we set the last date, if a game requires more polish to be the best possible version of itself, then we will give that game more time. And that’s exactly what happened. We feel really good about this release date. It’s in the same fiscal year, it happens to be a great release window, and naturally, we’re really supportive of Rockstar’s approach.”
As for why the release date was announced so far in advance, Zelnick spoke about the time required for appropriate marketing to be planned out and executed.
“It’s not that far in advance if you look at when you need to deliver a game to get it out,” Zelnick said. “Also, we have to start marketing activities in a significant amount of time ahead of release. What we want to do is give consumers as much certainty as possible. And again, we feel quite good about this date.”
Grand Theft Auto 6 is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. There have been no announcements about a PC release so far.