Why GTA 6 Third Delay Won't Happen, Insider Speaks Out

GTA VI has been delayed for a second time but according to gaming industry insiders a third delay is not on the table.

After already being pushed back from its 2025 release date to May 2026, GTA VI will now launch November 2026 to give the game more polish.

Rockstar Games said as much in its statement regarding the delay, essentially saying more time is needed to give players the Grand Theft Auto experience they deserve.

Naturally the fans are now concerned that a third delay could be on the cards, but apparently that’s unlikely.

According to Tom Henderson GTA VI is “content complete” and the second delay really is just for polish.

It’s said there are a lot of bugs to be found in the game, understandable given its scale, and the developers are looking to squash as many as they can before the game’s launch.

Some rumours suggest parts of the story have been rewritten/reworked but take those rumours with a pinch of salt.

Jason and Lucia (Rockstar)

Henderson believes a third delay is now unlikely but ultimately it’s up to Rockstar Games, so don’t count one out just yet as we’ll have to play it by ear.

As frustrating as the delay is, it's definitely warranted. GTA VI is one of the most highly-anticipated media products of all time and is already winning awards from sheer hype alone. The game needs to be perfect especially if the rumours regarding its pricing are to be believed, and Rockstar knows that.

There are worse reasons to delay a game though and if all it needs is a little more time to cook that’s usually a good thing.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a great example, as that’s a game that could have really benefitted from a couple more delays to avoid releasing in the state that it did.

It'll be stunning when we finally get our hands on it (Rockstar Games)

Then look at Nintendo spending the final year of The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom’s development on polish and bug fixing alone. GTA VI probably won’t be as mechanically rich as the Nintendo Switch game, but it'll certainly be as big.

The open-world is going to be huge and unlike Red Dead Redemption 2 it needs to be heavily populated with characters, buildings and side activities, so Rockstar has its work cut out for it.

GTA VI now launching on 19 November 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, no mention of the PC port has been made yet.