Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick admitted that the release of Grand Theft Auto VI is approximately 18 months behind its original schedule. According to him, if development had gone strictly according to plan, players would have been exploring virtual Vice City for over a year now.
Zelnick revealed this in an interview with David Senra. The executive noted that the delay was "not much more" than a year and a half, but emphasized that for Rockstar Games, the quality of the project is more important than meeting deadlines.
The words of the Take-Two head effectively confirm previous insider reports that the 2025 release of GTA 6 was an unrealistic scenario. Although the publisher officially named 2025 as the game's release window, rumors of a postponement first to 2026, and then from May to November 2026, already began to surface.
Zelnick once again made it clear that Rockstar will be given as much time as needed to bring the project to perfection. Back in 2025, he stated that the company's main goal is to support teams "in their pursuit of excellence," even if delays cause him "pain."