Rockstar announces GTA 6 release date at last, but it's not exactly the news we all wanted

Those waiting with bated breath for the biggest game launch of 2025 will have to take a big gulp of air – Rockstar has announced that Grand Theft Auto VI will not be released this year.

While the studio has finally revealed the release date for its hugely-anticipated sequel, it has been pushed back from a late 2025 slot to 26 May 2026.

This is hardly new for Rockstar – GTA 5 was originally slated for a Q2 2013 release before being delayed to September that year, while Red Dead Redemption 2 was delayed no less than three times, before being released more than a year after it was first planned.

The reasoning is similar this time too.

Writing on its own blog, the studio states that it needs "extra time to deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve".

It also says that it will share "more information with you soon".

What is GTA VI?

Grand Theft Auto VI (or GTA 6, as most call it) will be long-awaited sequel to 2013's GTA 5 – although it is unlikely to feature any characters or situations from that game.

Instead, it is set in the fictional US state of Leonida and a fleshed out version of Vice City. The protagonists this time are Bonnie and Clyde-style lovers, Lucia and her currently unnamed male partner.

An official trailer was released a year ago, but bar some major leaks and rumours, we've not heard much else since.

Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 1 - YouTube

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It will be the first GTA game released by Rockstar Games since the departure of co-founder Dan Houser, who produced and co-scripted on the entire series to this point.

We'll just have to wait a little longer to see how that pans out.