GTA 6: here's everything we know so far
Now that we know GTA 6 is a real game that we will one day play after years of rumors and speculation, we're faced with one big question: when will it be released? That we don't know. In fact, we don't know many concrete details about GTA 6 at all. But there are plenty of reports and rumors that point to what we could see.
The bad news is that Grand Theft Auto 6 is likely a couple of years away, meaning we likely won't see it until at least 2024. And while we're still waiting to hear where and when the game will be set, as well as what story it will tell, a recent intriguing report claims that the game could introduce the series' first playable female protagonist and revolve around a pair of characters styled after the American crimin
Rockstar Games isn't the kind of studio to make announcements before it's ready, so it feels like we're going to be waiting a little while before hearing official details on GTA 6. In the meantime, GTA 5 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S has at least given us some insight into how sharp the game could look on the latest generation of consoles.
Want to find out more about the next Grand Theft Auto? Read on for everything we know about GTA 6 so far.
GTA 6: cut to the chase
- What is GTA 6? The next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series
- When is GTA 6 coming out? TBC, but likely not for a few years
- What platforms will GTA 6 release on? TBC
- Where will GTA 6 be set? TBC
GTA 6 RELEASE DATE: WHEN IS GTA 6 COMING OUT?
(Image credit: Rockstar Games)
While Rockstar Games has finally announced it's working on GTA 6, it’s kept release details tightly under wraps. But there have been plenty of reports and rumors that could hint at when we'll get our hands on Grand Theft Auto 6. Very few of them suggest it'll be anytime soon.
According to a recent report by Bloomberg, several current and former Rockstar employees suggest the developer has spent a long time figuring out exactly what the next Grant Theft Auto will look like. Given this extended development time, they reckon GTA 6 is still at least two years away from release, pinning the sequel to a 2024 launch.
Although only speculation, it tallies with other reports and leaks from the last couple of years. Until now, our most solid GTA 6 release date hint came via the marketing budget of Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar's parent company. Take-Two's 10-K SEC filing from 2020 (which lays out financial plans for the next five years) shows that the company expects to spend $89 million on marketing between April 2023, and the end of March 2024 – that's a huge spike and more than half the marketing budget expected for any other fiscal year over the next decade
This led industry analyst Jeff Cohen to predict that this spike is because GTA 6 is expected to release within this period (which now looks likely). In a note to investors, Cohen pointed out that previous marketing budgets have predicted the releases of other big releases from Take-Two Interactive, including Red Dead Redemption 2. If this prediction is correct then we would expect to see GTA 6 release sometime between April 2023 and March 2024. Originally this spike was expected to take place in the fiscal year 2023, however, it's been pushed back to 2024. If it is GTA 6 that has caused this spike, this would suggest that a delay has occurred.
What's more, in a press release detailing Take-Two Interactive’s deal to buy mobile game company Zynga, a section on "Strategic Rationale and Stockholder Value Creation" contained a note stating that: "Looking ahead, the combined company is expected to deliver a 14% compound annual growth rate… over the three-year period from Take-Two's Fiscal Years 2021 through 2024."
In response to that, an analyst from investment banking firm Jefferies, quoted by Axios' Stephen Totilo on Twitter, said: "there are only a handful of titles that can...provide management with the confidence to put out such a strong guidance; we believe there is at least one Rockstar IP set to be released by FY24.
This 2024 spike almost lines up with leaker Tom Henderson's GTA 6 release date prediction. The notable leaker, who is primarily known for his (mostly) accurate previews of Battlefield and Call of Duty, posted a video sharing a bunch of alleged GTA 6 details. In it, Henderson predicts GTA 6 isn't going to release until between 2024 and 2025, based on his sources.
There are a few reasons for this, according to Henderson. The biggest is that apparently, Rockstar Games has been focusing heavily on "employee wellbeing", with the developer aiming to avoid crunch culture. Henderson also claimed that Rockstar didn't want to announce the game until it was confident that it will hit its release date, with an aim to avoid any delays, but wants to do so without making employees work extremely long hours to meet a deadline.
In addition, Henderson claims that GTA 6 will only release on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Given the current PS5 and Xbox Series X shortages, Rockstar Games is apparently waiting until there is a "big enough market" for these consoles – in other words, until the majority of players can actually get their hands on them.
The third key reason Henderson gave for this predicted 2024/2025 release date is the popularity of GTA 5, claiming that Rockstar would likely not want to release GTA 6 while its predecessor is still so successful.
Henderson's prediction has since been corroborated by Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier. His report earlier this year confirmed that Rockstar has been making efforts to overhaul its workplace culture, and previously said on Twitter that Henderson's claims "[match] up with what I’ve heard".
A release sometime in 2024 looks like a pretty safe bet, then, but one leaker claims this could be wishful thinking. Creator of Rockstar Mag Chris Klippel (who has accurately leaked Rockstar Game news before) claims that while the developer has reached an important working milestone, he doesn't expect Grand Theft Auto to release before the end of 2024.
"I think that a (real) announcement at the end of the year may be possible," Klippel tweeted. "In any case, I don't see the game arriving before the end of 2024."
So, maybe the 2025 side of that 2024/2025 estimate is more likely.
Take-Two Interactive's May 2022 earnings presentation also put a dampener on any release date optimism by outlining the publisher’s release pipeline for the 2023 financial year through to 2025 with no mention of GTA 6.
On the surface, this would appear to suggest that we might not see GTA 6 until after April 2026 which would be a long wait. However, it’s worth noting that the slide showing the release pipeline says that it’s only a “snapshot” of the current development pipeline and that new titles will be added in the future. The presentation, for instance, suggests details about unannounced projects are expected to release in early 2023.
Even if Take-Two does have a rough internal release window for GTA 6, it’s unlikely that it’s going to reveal it to the world via a slide in a financial presentation.
We'll have to wait until Rockstar Games officially confirms GTA 6's release date to know for sure when we'll get our hands on it, but based on current speculation it looks likely that won't be for a couple of years yet.