GTA 6 release date update has fans lamenting original launch

GTA VI was originally supposed to release this year but was pushed back to 2026 in order to give the game the time it needs.

This was a good decision from Rockstar Games as while I’m sure the game would have been great it could have easily suffered the same fate as Cyberpunk 2077 had it been released in a buggy, unfinished state.

It sucked, but it was a necessary evil though now fans are expecting nothing short of perfection the game actually launches.

Recently the CEO of Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two Interactive, Strauss Zelnick, spoke about the delay in an interview with CNBC.

A clip of the interview was shared online where he downplays the delay, saying “It’s a pretty short delay, it’s less than 6 months.”

Fans have taken this clip and used it to divine what the original release date for GTA VI was, as it was something highly debated in the build-up to the game’s second trailer.

It’s now being speculated that “the original release date for this year was set really close to Christmas Day. So any past predictions that were predicting an early fall release are all now void.”

While you have to take it with a pinch of a salt fans are now lamenting how marvelous it would have been to have GTA VI as a Christmas present, with one fan saying “God damn a launch around Christmas would have been magical.”

Another added “six months before the 26th of May 2026 is on November 26th 2025. This is likely the approximate original planned release date.”

Some PC players also chimed in to say they’re not “expecting to be waiting until 2027 or later” for their port of the game…

Part of me still wishes we could get GTA VI this year but it clearly wasn’t meant to be, hopefully the new release date of May 2026 is firmer.