GTA 6 Was Originally Planned to Launch Much Earlier Than We Thought

Rockstar Games has disclosed that it initially aimed to develop GTA 6 in parallel with Red Dead Redemption 2, which means the game could have been released far sooner than we ever imagined.

According to a new Bloomberg article, Rockstar Games originally planned to work on Red Dead 2 and GTA 6 simultaneously, but that quickly proved impractical. Rob Nelson, co-studio head at Rockstar North, realized that the scope of Red Dead Redemption 2 required an all-hands-on-deck approach, which meant GTA 6 had to take a backseat. However, this delay ultimately benefited GTA 6, as Nelson told Bloomberg that everything they created for Red Dead would "pay off" in GTA 6.

That seems to hold true, as GTA 6 incorporates many ideas and systems from Red Dead Redemption 2, including its NPC interaction system. It's doubtful that GTA 6 would be what it is today if it had continued development alongside the western sequel. Unfortunately for fans, this means the game took much longer to make. Had it been developed concurrently, it's likely Rockstar could have released GTA 6 in the early 2020s.

Of course, the first public release window Rockstar ever provided for GTA 6 was 2025. The game was delayed a few times, much to the surprise of Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Rockstar's parent company, Take-Two Interactive. Jennifer Kolbe, Rockstar's head of publishing, recalled having to call Zelnick just months after announcing the first delay to inform him they needed more time.

"I think he said, 'You're kidding. Please tell me you're kidding,'" Kolbe told Bloomberg. "But once we talked through why, he got it. And I think we are really lucky that he is as reasonable as he is, because a lot of people would say, 'You'd just better figure out how to ship it.' And we have been really, really lucky that we have not found ourselves in that place, because that happens to a lot of teams, and we've all played those games. It's not great."

Bloomberg's report dispels rumors that GTA 6 has been in active development since shortly after GTA 5's release in 2013, but that doesn't mean Rockstar only started working on it after Red Dead 2 launched. Various teams and leadership within Rockstar have been researching and planning GTA 6 since as early as 2014. In recent interviews, Rockstar has discussed taking staff to Florida to research and brainstorm ideas for GTA 6 during the mid to late 2010s.

Bloomberg noted that the team didn't have a "skeleton" for GTA 6's story until the end of 2019, a year after Red Dead 2's release. Even then, it took a while for the team to fully grasp what the game would be. Rockstar has vowed not to take nearly as long on its next game, thanks to having fewer obstacles ahead.

Rockstar doubled in size during GTA 6's development, faced multiple leaks, experienced a productivity loss during the pandemic, and more. The studio also made major changes to its operations and expects that will set it up for success going forward. What is Rockstar's next game? We don't know. Some may expect Red Dead 3, but other fans hope Rockstar will break the cycle of alternating between Red Dead and GTA in favor of something new or reviving a different IP. Whatever the case, don't expect it to take another eight years.