Ex-Rockstar dev doesn't believe GTA 6 will be delayed again: "The hype around the game will die down"

GTA 6 Cal Hampton in a pool on a pink flamingo float

(Image credit: Rockstar Games)

If you were among the many disappointed by the latest GTA 6 delay, moving from May 2026 to November of the same year, then a former company employee has some reassurance. According to an ex-artist on GTA 5 and GTA Online, it's incredibly unlikely we'll see another shift on the mammoth game, regardless of whatever state it'll be in.

Mike York, a former animator at Rockstar, explains why to Esports Insider. "If Rockstar Games delay GTA 6 again then the hype around the game will die down almost completely," he says. "Right now, nobody is searching for GTA 6. Everyone knows there's no news, there's nothing to talk about. There's a point where you delay something so much that you start to make people angry."

You could certainly sense a little bit of that after the last release window shift. A member of the Polish parliament called it “a huge scandal,” and you had disappointment when we didn’t even get a new trailer to satisfy people’s appetites for something related to the GTA 5 follow-up.

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November 2026 seems locked in, and York believes it's an optimal time for Rockstar to get the release out. "If you want to sell a big amount of video games then that's the perfect time for GTA 6 to come out with it being a month before Christmas," he points out. "Usually companies only delay these things once or twice when they need to, so I think it will come out around that time."

What he says makes a lot of sense, and having the game out in time for a Christmas surge is no doubt the ideal scenario for Rockstar. There are other factors for the company at present though, as a round of firings led to accusations of union-busting within the studio, with the potential for external scrutiny from the British government.

We will definitely be playing Grand Theft Auto 6 one day. Just when, exactly, is another question. For now, the answer is next November, and if we're lucky, it'll stay that way.

Delaying GTA 6 is the "smartest thing" Rockstar could do, Elder Scrolls 6 lead says, because fans wouldn't want something that "doesn't meet their expectations."

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