GTA VI still not an absolute certainty for November

Never let it be said that the video games market is not capable of keeping everyone on their toes: after the whole “will they/won’t they” drama of early 2025, when people still thought that Grand Theft Auto VI would be released in May – as originally promised – but with no indication that this was actually possible, the official delay to May 2026 and then to late November 2026 had seemingly set that matter to rest. It was over a year away, sure, but if that was what Rockstar needed in order to perfect its masterpiece, so be it. Right?

Well… not necessarily, at least not according to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier. During the latest episode of the Button Mash podcast the journalist noted that his latest inside information on the matter puts GTA VI in the content-finalizing stage of development: in other words, Rockstar has not made all the decisions regarding the missions, locations, characters etc. that will be included in the retail version of the game. The title is feature-complete (meaning that its core gameplay is set in stone now) but not content-complete… yet.

This is concerning for three reasons. One: a game usually has to be content-complete before the testing needed to iron out all the bugs and resolve all the technical issues can begin. Two: the bug-fixing and optimizing period is important for any game but even more so for Rockstar, given its uncompromising approach to development. This company simply won’t release Grand Theft Auto VI if it does not feel it’s absolutely ready to go. Three: the duration of that final stretch of testing and bug-hunting is difficult to predict in modern games, as unexpected problems that need extra development time to solve often crop up at that stage – sometimes forcing developers to go back and change things that can actually affect the whole game.

To be honest, yours truly would have thought that a game as complex as GTA VI – from a developer as obsessive with detail as Rockstar – would have entered its debugging phase by now. That seems not to be the case, though, which is probably the reason why Screier does not seem to be absolutely sure about it being able to hit its expected release date this year. “It’s really hard to say right now, and I don’t think anyone at Rockstar can tell you with 100% certainty, that they will make it out in November”, he said, before adding about the November 2026 release date that “people there feel like it might be a little more solid” compared to the fall 2025 date or the May 2026 date. But “a little more solid” does not sound exactly reassuring, does it?

It’s true that, during the podcast conversation he was a part of, Schreier did not sound like someone who knows or expects that GTA VI will suffer a third delay. But the fact that he will not rule it out either is cause for concern, as is his pointing out that Take-Two’s financial year does not end until March 31st, 2027. This implies that, should Rockstar be forced to delay the release of GTA VI even further – but still have it out within the same financial year it’s currently planning to – it has four extra months at its disposal to do so.

Four more months might not sound like a big deal for Rockstar or for Take-Two and its investors, but it could be a serious problem for the gaming market at large, as it would have to plan around that for the third time in two years – enough to frustrate anyone. It’s also not difficult to imagine some Grand theft Auto fans losing patience with Rockstar, even temporarily, or some of them just losing interest altogether despite the hype. Yes, it’s GTA. Yes, that matters. Yes, the appeal is there. Yes, we all want it to be perfect. But it’s only so many times that any developer can commit to a release date and not hit it before they stop being taken seriously. 3D Realms, anyone?