Grand Theft Auto 6 rumored to be falling behind schedule, could be delayed until 2026

When it's finally released, Grand Theft Auto 6 will be one of the biggest games of all time, but according to the latest rumors, Rockstar is falling behind schedule and could delay it out of 2025 and into 2026.

Rockstar Games first revealed Grand Theft Auto 6 back in December 2023, but now Kotaku "has also learned that it's becoming more and more likely that the sequel might not land until late 2025". The site continues, saying that it's even possible GTA 6 could "even slip into 2026 as production reportedly falls behind". Sigh.

The developer pushed in a mandate for its staffers to return to the office instead of working from home, with Kotaku sources who wanted to remain anonymous to "avoid possible retaliation" said that the development of GTA 6 has started "falling behind". Kotaku says that their sources said that leadership at Rockstar is nervous, worrying that the game might miss its 2025 release and slip into 2026.

• Read more: Report: GTA 6 coming in 2024, Rockstar making tons of progress
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• Read more: GTA 6 confirmed for 2025 launch, trailer released early

Kotaku reports that they're told that Rockstar is still "aiming" for GTA 6 to drop this year, and while spring 2025 is the goal, the site adds that "sources say they aren't sure if this will happen and a fall 2025 launch seems more plausible and feasible". Meanwhile, delaying Grand Theft Auto 6 until 2026 is "on the table" as sort of a "fallback plan" or "emergency" option if needed.

However, one Rockstar staffer told Aftermath: "We're concerned about going back to that. I've been through a couple of projects, both of which had crunch. The first one was extremely difficult. I had way less gray hair back then... We want to continue the strides we've made as a company to remove that toxic culture".

Grand Theft Auto 6 will be the biggest game of the year when it drops -- which is still hopefully in 2025 -- where Sony will enjoy being the home to GTA 6 on its beefed-up PlayStation 5 Pro console. Microsoft will only have its current Xbox Series X/S consoles for GTA 6 players, and the game isn't coming out on PC at launch, so the most powerful system you'll be able to run GTA 6 on will be the PS5 Pro.