GTA 6 Release Originally Planned for Spring 2025, Now 18 Months Behind, Take-Two CEO Reveals

Grand Theft Auto VI is currently scheduled for release on November 19, 2026, but it has faced multiple delays. Initially announced for fall 2025, it was pushed back to May 2026, and then to its current November date. However, in a new interview, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick indicated that the game was internally targeting an even earlier release window—around spring 2025—before the public fall 2025 announcement.

Speaking to David Senra in a video interview about his career, Zelnick said GTA 6 was "about 18 months behind the original date… not much more than that." This suggests the original internal plan was to launch GTA 6 in spring 2025, even if it wasn't publicly stated.

If correct, GTA 6 is significantly behind schedule, but Zelnick has emphasized his commitment to giving developer Rockstar Games everything needed to achieve "perfection." The pressure is immense, as the game is expected to break all sales records.

Earlier this month, Business Insider reported that Take-Two has spent an estimated $1-1.5 billion on GTA 6 so far. Zelnick declined to confirm the exact figure but admitted "it was expensive." For context, most AAA video game budgets that make headlines are in the hundreds of millions. Bungie's recent extraction shooter reportedly had a budget of over $250 million, and a court document revealed that Activision spent $700 million on Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War over its lifecycle. GTA 6 clearly surpasses them all.

Given expectations that GTA 6 will be the biggest entertainment launch ever, the astronomical development costs are no surprise. According to Business Insider, some Rockstar staff have been working on the game for over a decade. In a recent Bloomberg interview, Zelnick said development costs have risen over the years, but Take-Two aims to provide "unlimited financial, creative human resources" to deliver perfection.

Zelnick has stated that GTA 6 marketing will ramp up in the summer, ahead of the planned November release. Fans eagerly await Trailer 3 and preorder announcements, with various theories circulating online. The intense scrutiny means even minor details become major talking points.

Zelnick remains confident, noting that "most people believe" GTA is the most valuable entertainment IP ever created. While he wouldn't disclose the series' total earnings, he smiled and said, "it's a lot." GTA 6 will surely follow suit.

When asked how he handles uncertainty about the release date given his commitment to developer timelines, Zelnick firmly replied, "November 19th, I do know. It’s been announced."