GTA 6 could release in 2023 according to analysts

GTA 6 could be set to release in the 2024 financial year, according to analysis of publisher Take-Two's recent acquisition of Zynga.

Earlier this week, Take-Two's $12.7 billion purchase of the mobile development company became the biggest video game acquisition in history. In a press release announcing the deal, Take-Two said that the combined company is "expected to deliver" an annual growth rate of 14% over the next three years, to the end of the 2024 financial year.

As noted by analysis from New York firm Jefferies (via Axios), "there are only a handful of titles that can [...] provide management with the confidence to put out such a strong guidance," leading the firm to "believe there is at least one Rockstar IP set to be released by FY24," which starts in April 2023, and end in March 2024.

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According to Cowen analyst Doug Creutz, 14% growth in that time would require around $9 billion in spending on Take-Two in that time, which they claim relates to "a likely GTA 6 launch in FY24."

That lines up pretty closely with reports from last year that stated that GTA 6 might not launch until 2025, but that 2023 was a possible target for Rockstar. GTA 5 originally launched in September 2013, so a launch relatively late in the calendar year could be a pattern that Rockstar is aiming to follow.

It's worth noting that this is far from confirmation of a release window, and that until we hear from Rockstar or Take-Two, even informed financial analysis can't be expected to predict the many issues that can impact development schedules. Just a few months ago, one report suggested that GTA 6 development was "chaotic," which could mean that internal and even external schedules shift around significantly as the game gets closer to release.