Grand Theft Auto VI is currently one of the most anticipated games of the generation. But while Rockstar’s juggernaut is officially scheduled for 2025, we learned today that it may be postponed.
GTA 6 Towards 2026 Postponement?
A recent article published in the columns of Kotaku actually suggests this, suggesting that the game could now be released in 2026:
Kotaku has learned from sources with knowledge of the game’s development process that GTA 6 may miss its 2025 release window and slide to 2026.
If it’s made clear that “early 2025” is currently the internal objective, an exit in the fall seems increasingly plausible, with a postponement until 2026 as a “back-up plan”:
For now, I’m told Rockstar is still aiming for a spring 2025 release for GTA 6. Although the goal is to release the game in early 2025, sources say they are not sure if that will happen and that it will launch in the fall of 2025. Seems more plausible and possible. In the meantime, postponing the Games until 2026 is considered a sort of “back-up plan” or “contingency” option should the need arise.
In late February, we learned via Bloomberg that Rockstar had asked its employees to return to the office, as the company found “tangible benefits” to working in person.
Kotaku reported today that GTA 6’s development is starting to fall behind schedule, and that this has Rockstar executives “nervous and concerned” that the game will miss the 2025 window and slip to 2026. This is another important reason, they say. The company is pushing its teams to return to the office in early April.
Teams fear new shortages
While the game has entered its final stages of development, teams now fear that a return to the office will mean a new crunch time, as a firm employee pointed out in an Aftermatch column:
We are worried about going back on it. I participated in two projects, both of which were time crunch. The first was extremely difficult. My hair was much less gray then. We want to continue the progress we have made as a company to eliminate this toxic culture.
Some also fear that a return to face-to-face work will be a way for companies to “discreetly lay off employees” to make work or relocation and travel costs unaffordable.
Remember GTA VI is planned for Xbox series
