Rockstar Games announces a delay for its highly anticipated next title, Grand Theft Auto 6. Even without having revealed a firm release date for the game, the studio felt that it needed to push the launch, and for what it feels is a very good reason.
According to Rockstar Games CEO Abe Riffle, Grand Theft Auto 6 has been delayed in order to avoid the launch of Grand Theft Auto 6. In an exclusive interview with Game Rant, Riffle revealed that, like the rest of the video game industry, it didn’t want to go up against GTA 6, so a delay felt warranted.
“We felt that it was too big of a risk to release Grand Theft Auto 6 so close to GTA 6, so rather than have to compete directly, we are delaying Grand Theft Auto 6 into 2026. GTA 6 can have 2025 all to itself”
Today’s news corroborates a recent report that several upcoming 2025 titles from major publishers had several release date plans that it could pivot to based on when GTA 6 is released. The claims were that releasing right before or right after Grand Theft Auto 6 would be the kiss of death for a game, as these titles tend to eat up a lot of players’ time.
Just taking a look at the planned slate of summer 2025 games compared to fall games shows the impact that GTA 6 has. Very few titles are willing to stake their claim on any part of the fall, only to have their sales hopes dashed when GTA 6 eventually reveals its date. Microsoft’s Fable, for example, moved out of a fall frame – very possibly as a preemptive measure.
Clearly, the team behind Grand Theft Auto 6 felt that it was better to avoid going up against one of the biggest game releases in recent memory and the sequel to one of the best-selling games of all time. A lot is riding on the success of Grand Theft Auto 6, and GTA 6 could hurt that.
Not much is known about Grand Theft Auto 6, with Rockstar Games keeping things close to the vest when it comes to new information. Outside of talk of a 2025 release date (which has since changed), all there is to go by can be gleaned from the first Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer. In it, there are two key characters, suggesting that Grand Theft Auto 6 might once again feature multiple protagonists. Of course, the trailer also showcased the high level of visual fidelity that the series is known for, and plenty of criminal goings-on.
Any hint as to whether Grand Theft Auto 6 will evolve GTA Online is unknown, but considering how popular Grand Theft Auto 5’s multiplayer mode has been, and, more importantly, how financially successful it is, there is little doubt that GTA Online will continue in some form. Unfortunately, gamers are just going to have to wait a little longer to get their hands on the sequel, but in the interim, they can rest easily knowing there will be more time to enjoy Grand Theft Auto 6 whenever it does release.
Grand Theft Auto 6 currently doesn’t have a release date, but it will be available for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.