Since Grand Theft Auto 6 has seen so many delays so far, a running gag among fans of the franchise has been whether the title will only come out after Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls 6 – another game that was announced several years ago but without an official release date. This question was also posed to Bethesda creative director Todd Howard by Power Unlimited at the red carpet event for the premiere of Amazon’s Fallout show’s second season.
When asked which of the two long-in-development titles will come out first, Howard responded by saying that, “I got my fingers crossed for GTA 6.” Responding to a further question about whether or not Rockstar Games’ open-world title will really hit its release date next year, Howard responded by saying that the studio has some of the best developers working there.
“I do,” said Howard when asked if Grand Theft Auto 6 will hit its November 19, 2026 release date. “They are doing an incredible job. I know the folks at Rockstar and I think they are some of the absolute best at bringing a virtual world to life. It’s a world that feels like it would go on even if you weren’t there.”
Howard has made no secret about the fact that The Elder Scrolls 6 is still quite some time away. Just last month, he spoke in an interview about how he didn’t want fans of the series to feel anxious about when the open-world RPG will come out. “I’m preaching patience. I don’t want fans to feel anxious,” he said. As for whether there’s chance that we might see the highly-anticipated RPG get a shadow drop in the vein of this year’s The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, Howard said that, “You might say that was a test run. It worked out well.”
Grand Theft Auto 6 was originally slated to be released in late 2025. However, this date then got pushed back to May 26. Just last month, however, Rockstar Games would announce that the title was getting pushed further back, all the way to November 19, 2026. The studio also apologised for adding “additional time to what we realise has been a long wait.”
CEO of parent company Take-Two Interactive, Strauss Zelnick, would later note that the delay also helps in giving the company more time to ramp up the marketing for the open-world game. However, he also noted that the company was simply giving Rockstar Games all the time it might need to ensure that the final release is well-polished.
“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.”
In the meantime, you can also check out the criticisms that Rockstar Games has been facing owing to the company’s firing of over 30 employees last month.