“It’s A Pretty Short Delay”: Grand Theft Auto 6's Original Release Window Revealed By Take-Two CEO

Summary

• Last week, Rockstar confirmed that GTA 6 has been delayed into 2026.
• Now that the game is a full year away from release, it feels like the delay was pretty significant.
• That isn't the case, though, as Take-Two's CEO has confirmed it was delayed by "less than" six months.

Take-Two Interactive's CEO has given us a very good idea of when Grand Theft Auto 6 was originally supposed to launch, as he's revealed the delay was by "less than" six months.

After more than a year of silence after revealing GTA 6 at the end of 2023, Rockstar Games finally blessed us with a brand new trailer and a huge info drop just a few weeks ago. The long-awaited reveal of more GTA 6 details was a bit of a double-edged sword, though, as our fears of a delay were also finally confirmed.

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Now that we have a concrete release date of May 26, 2026 for Grand Theft Auto 6, that's left a lot of fans wondering just how long the game was actually delayed by and when it was originally supposed to launch. It certainly feels like a big delay now that it's more than a year away, but it turns out that it wasn't actually that significant.

Grand Theft Auto 6 Was Originally Supposed To Release Around November

That's Clear Since The Delay Was "Less Than Six Months"

As pointed out by Twitter user videotechuk_, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick recently appeared on CNBC to discuss the company's current financial standing. Of course, this mostly meant talking about GTA 6 and the impact that the second trailer and delay had on Take-Two, with Zelnick being asked to explain the delay.

In response, Zelnick simply said that it wasn't actually that much of a delay, and that GTA 6 was only pushed back by "less than six months". This suggests that, like we all assumed after Borderlands 4 and Mafia: The Old Country had their release dates revealed, Grand Theft Auto 6 was originally planned to launch around November or December of this year.

It’s a pretty short delay, it’s less than six months. Generally when we announce a date that’s certain, we’re able to hit that date. The key thing is that Rockstar Games is trying to create the best thing that anyone’s ever seen in entertainment - not just interactive entertainment. - Strauss Zelnick

Zelnick also reiterated once again that Take-Two usually does release on time when it announces a specific date, before pointing out that Rockstar is trying to create the "best thing that anyone's ever seen" in the whole entertainment industry. That's a very tall order, but what we've seen so far doesn't make it seem too far-fetched.

Grand Theft Auto 6

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