GTA 6 release date could be delayed to 2026

The release date for the highly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 could slip to 2026 because of delays in development, according to a report.

When Rockstar Games posted the first trailer for it in December 2023, a release window of 2025 was given, with video games site Kotaku claiming insiders said 'early 2025' was the aim then.

There have been waves of speculation and rumour since - but Kotaku now reports insiders with knowledge of the game's development have said it is behind schedule and that it's likely to release later in 2025, or even fall back to 2026.

Recently, Rockstar issued a notice to the majority of employees for them to return to the office five-days-a-week - employees have blasted that decision since, while it's understood the developer is forcing this through to issue productivity and security concerns.

If development is behind schedule, that might shed some light on why Rockstar is doing this.

The Kotaku report does say that while employees are still aiming for a Spring 2025 release window, an Autumn 2025 launch seems more plausible, with a delay to 2026 a 'fallback plan' or 'emergency' option if it's only absolutely needed.

GTA 6 is one of the most highly-anticipated games of all time and social media has been a hotbed for leaks, rumours and theories about when exactly the game will be released, when further details such as trailers will be announced, what will be in the game itself and loads more.

It's no surprise really given that Grand Theft Auto 5 was widely recognised as the best game of the last decade - it came out in 2013 and is still popular with gamers today as Rockstar continues to release GTA Online updates.

It must be said with GTA 6, all that's been confirmed so far by Rockstar is what's in the trailer.

Rockstar has been contacted for comment.

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.