When the first GTA VI trailer dropped in December, a 2025 release date splashed on the screen at the end. According to a new report from Kotaku, that date might be in a bit of trouble.
Sources told the outlet that development has started “falling behind,” and there is the potential the release date could slip to 2026. But that date is considered an “emergency” option right now.
A Bloomberg report from February revealed that Rockstar Games will ask employees to return to the office five days a week starting in April. At the time, Rockstar Head of Publishing Jenn Kolbe cited security and productivity as the reasons. The productivity reason lends more weight to this new report that the game’s development is a little shaky.
Any Rockstar game is a big deal for the industry, and they don’t get bigger than GTA VI. Take-Two has said the game’s launch will usher in the company’s next phase of growth. The big hardware platforms are also expected to release mid-gen refreshes starting this holiday season.
A recent report from Insider Gaming suggests the PS5 Pro will come packed with a much stronger GPU and is tentatively set for a holiday 2024 release. Higher resolution and more consistent frames per second will be the main selling points for any mid-gen hardware refresh. And what better game to flex the new console muscle than GTA VI.
So far, GTA VI has only been announced for Xbox and PlayStation. A PC version hasn’t been confirmed, but we all know it’s coming. It’ll likely follow a similar trend we’ve seen lately with GTA and Red Dead Redemption. Take GTA V. It was first released in September 2013 for Xbox and PlayStation before making its way to PC in April 2015. Red Dead Redemption 2 saw a similar timeframe, with about 12 months between the console and PC release dates.
I’m curious if we see similar double-dip potential with GTA VI. One reason folks repurchased the game on PC was to enjoy the bump in performance. But if the mid-gen console refreshes performance can offer 60 fps at launch, will people buy it again on PC?
One potential way to sell folks on the PC version is with official roleplaying server support. Last year, Rockstar acquired the team behind FiveM.
Whether it’s in 2025 or 2026, GTA VI will be the biggest game that year. Its ultimate release date will have a giant impact as publishers clear out around it to avoid being completely overshadowed. So far, the game is still targeting its 2025 release date.