Every GTA 6 delay on the long road to 19 November

GTA 6 has been delayed twice. Rockstar Games first announced it for 2025; in May 2025 it pushed it to 26 May 2026, and in November that year it set the date that still stands today: 19 November 2026. This is the full development timeline, every delay and the reasons the studio gave.

GTA 6 timeline, date by date

1. 4 February 2022

   Rockstar confirms development

   Rockstar Games announces that the next Grand Theft Auto is "well underway".

2. 18 September 2022

   The big leak

   A hacker posts around 90 videos from a very early build of the game. Rockstar confirms the breach and says it does not expect any long-term effect on development.

3. 8 November 2023

   First trailer announced

   Marking the studio's 25th anniversary, Rockstar reveals that the first trailer will arrive in early December.

4. 5 December 2023

   Trailer 1 and a 2025 window

   After it leaks hours early, Rockstar brings the trailer forward to the evening of 4 December US time. It introduces Leonida, Lucia and Jason, and targets 2025. It breaks the 24-hour record for a non-music video on YouTube.

5. May 2024

   Take-Two narrows it down: autumn 2025

   In its earnings presentation, Take-Two Interactive places the launch in autumn 2025.

6. 2 May 2025

   First delay: 26 May 2026

   Rockstar apologises and explains it needs more time to deliver the level of quality players expect.

7. 6 May 2025

   Trailer 2

   The second trailer arrives alongside dozens of screenshots and character and location profiles on the official site. According to Rockstar, it hits 475 million views across platforms in 24 hours.

8. 6 November 2025

   Second delay: 19 November 2026

   On the same day Take-Two reports earnings, Rockstar delays the game by another six months to finish it "with the level of polish" fans expect.

9. 25 June 2026

   Pre-orders open

   The Standard (€79.99) and Ultimate (€99.99) editions go on sale, with the November date confirmed.

10. 27 August 2026

    Extended Look on Netflix

    Rockstar premieres an extended video on Netflix with new details on the story, the world and the gameplay.

11. 12 and 19 November 2026

    Pre-load and launch

    Digital pre-load from 12 November and launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on 19 November.

First delay: from autumn 2025 to 26 May 2026

On 2 May 2025, just months before the planned window, Rockstar published a short statement apologising for the delay and thanking players for their patience. It stressed that the goal with every game is to exceed expectations:

"We need this extra time to deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve."

Four days later, on 6 May, the studio released the second trailer, which it says became the biggest video launch of all time.

Second delay: to 19 November 2026

On 6 November 2025, alongside Take-Two's quarterly results, Rockstar announced the second delay. The studio apologised again for extending what it acknowledged had already been a long wait, and said the extra months would let it finish the game with the level of polish players have come to expect. The statement closed with a promise: the sprawling state of Leonida and a return to modern-day Vice City.

Could GTA 6 be delayed again?

Delays are nothing new for Rockstar. GTA V slipped from spring 2013 to 17 September that year, and Red Dead Redemption 2, planned for autumn 2017, was delayed twice before landing on 26 October 2018. In both cases the extra time produced two of the best-selling and highest-rated games of the decade.