How Much GTA 6 Delay Will Cost Rockstar, They Better Hope it's Worth it

The release of Grand Theft Auto VI has become such a monumental event that it's having far-reaching consequences on basically everyone else in the industry, from marketing professionals to developers.

Last week's delay marks the second time the game has been pushed back, and we're now not going to be able to get our hands on it until at least November 2026, assuming that's the date they are able to stick to.

As such, everyone else has started adjusting their calendars, from moving games forward to avoid there being a material clash, to working out what needs to be done to avoid going up against GTA VI in the following year's awards cycle.

For Rockstar Games themselves, it seems as though the decision to delay is going to be a very expensive one, costing them a lot more than most companies spend on developing their games from scratch.

Rockstar Games

GTA VI Delay Could Cost Rockstar Half A Billion Dollars

In an exclusive interview with VideoGamer, gaming finance expert Professor Rob Wilson detailed exactly how much the six month delay could cost the developer directly.

“The six-month slip is extremely expensive in real cash terms. Taking the midpoint of additional vendor surge, QA and certification, art polishing and rebooking marketing you are now $350m or so deeper into the budget. Then add the time value hit where the most front-loaded cash event in this industry now falls six months later. Put that together and this can easily be a $500m equivalent swing," Wilson said.

Despite that astronomical cost to the company, they may actually be doing the right thing financially in order to avoid even more significant losses further down the line.

“However, Rockstar historically optimises itself on reputation which compounds over decades rather than quarters. They fully understand that releasing imperfect three months early would permanently destroy more value than this half billion cost to delay," he went on to confirm.

If you're particularly speedy with your maths, you'll have worked out that the six month delay is costing Rockstar a staggering $83.33 million every month, or a smidge over $2.8 million every single day.

That could push the total cost of the game beyond $3 billion, making it comfortably the most expensive release in history.

Whilst those kind of numbers would be wholly untenable for many, they are counting on a mega payout when they do finally get the game into the hands of players.