Back in February, I asked Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick about his confidence in hitting Grand Theft Auto VI's then-scheduled Fall 2025 release window. He told me he felt "really good about it." Three months later, and perhaps unsurprisingly, GTA VI was postponed to May 26, 2026.
What shifted during those few months? That’s what I asked Zelnick in a new interview accompanying Take-Two’s latest financial report. He explained that as GTA VI approached its launch, the need for additional polish "became clear."
"As we near the completion of a title striving for perfection, the necessity—or lack thereof—for continued refinement becomes evident," Zelnick stated. "In this instance, we saw an opportunity with a small amount of extra time to ensure Rockstar Games realizes its creative vision without compromise. I fully endorsed that direction."
Pushing GTA VI beyond Take-Two's current fiscal year into the next is a short-term setback for the company's financials, but Zelnick assured me he remains highly optimistic about the upcoming lineup, including Gearbox's Borderlands 4, Hangar 13's Mafia: The Old Country, and new installments in the NBA 2K and WWE 2K series.
"As of today, I feel very positive about how Fiscal Year 2026 is shaping up," he remarked. "And while delays are undoubtedly frustrating—how could they not be?—the top priority is supporting our teams in their pursuit of perfection."
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The natural follow-up question echoed my query from February: How confident are you that Rockstar will meet the May 26, 2026 deadline? This time, Zelnick sounded even more resolute:
"Historically, when we set a specific date, we've generally been very successful at hitting it."
To me, that’s as close as it gets to confirming GTA VI won’t face further delays without explicitly stating it. While nothing is ever certain, now that GTA VI has a concrete release date, another postponement would come as a major surprise.
The debut of GTA VI’s second trailer and Rockstar’s accompanying information release has fueled widespread speculation about what to expect from what is poised to become the highest-selling video game ever. Some Grand Theft Auto enthusiasts even speculate that Liberty City might appear in GTA VI, either at launch or as downloadable content after release.
While we await more news, we’ve compiled extensive coverage on GTA VI, including all the details uncovered so far, a collection of 70 brand-new screenshots, and expert analysis on how GTA VI will perform on the PS5 Pro.
