Grand Theft Auto is one of the most popular video game series of all time, starting with its first drop in the late 90s and rising to be a top dawg like Jay-Z. It became a fan favorite for gamers, with people being able to do almost whatever they wanted in the virtual world, including hitting pedestrians, robbing banks, or going to the strip club.
However, it also became beloved by hip-hop fans because of its deep rap soundtrack and radio stations featuring the likes of Future, Kendrick Lamar, and A$AP Rocky.
GTA V dropped in 2013, and people have gotten tired of messing around in Los Santos. Begging for what’s next, fans are eager to play the next installment with upgrades and features that (hopefully) reflect the advancements in gaming technology over the last decade.
The tale of GTA VI starts in February 2022, with Rockstar Games, the franchise’s parent company, finally confirming that the game is on the way.
The next update introduced their new protagonist. Rather than leaving the girls to be punching bags or worse, they announced in July 2022 that GTA VI will have its first playable female character. They also revealed that the game would take place in the land of Rick Ross and jet skis—Miami, Florida.
Since then, endless “[insert event here] before GTA 6 is crazy” comments have been made as developers face challenge after challenge to finalize the game. Below, find everything there is to know about GTA VI and its alleged release date.
September 2022: Leaks bigger than Playboi Carti
The devil works hard, but GTA VI leakers work harder. In September 2022, Rockstar Games was hit with one of the biggest leaks in gaming history. Fans were delighted as footage from the new game spread like wildfire online.
The leaker, Arion Kurtaj, hacked Rockstar’s internal Slack groups (a communication platform favored for remote work) to download the clips using an Amazon Firestick, his hotel TV, and a cell phone. He was sentenced to indefinite imprisonment in a secure hospital after a mental health assessment revealed he “continued to express the intent to return to cybercrime as soon as possible.”
At Kurtaj’s trial, Rockstar Games claimed the leak cost them $5 million and thousands of hours of staff time. While this no doubt caused a delay, gamers got to see the new details included (or taken away) in the upcoming adventures, including:
- Brand new weapon wheel similar to the one seen in Red Dead Redemption 2
- Potentially the most accessible interiors in the game’s history, including those randomly generated by AI
- Improved police interactions, like giving players time to surrender before police start shooting
- Returning character features like the ability to crouch and new features like self-revive
- New and improved in-depth robbery system that allows players to set up and pull off their own dynamic robberies.
December 2023: ‘GTA VI’ trailer is a chaos wonderland
The video game community had to take what they could get and not throw a fit for over a year. Finally, though, Rockstar Games made a K.Dot comeback to center stage in November 2023 to announce that the first trailer was dropping on December 5. But once again, the company had to deal with a roadblock when the trailer was leaked a day early, forcing them to release the official version hours before schedule.
Filled with Kodak Black lookalikes, yacht parties, and gator attacks, the trailer showcases the Project X energy GTA users love with a dash of Florida craziness. It’s been co-signed by Florida residents as an accurate portrayal of their hometown.
Regardless of how it dropped, the trailer received positive reactions overall and made people even more eager to get their girlfriends to cop it for them. There was a collective disappointment around the “coming in 2025” reveal at the end of the trailer, squashing any dreams of acquiring it in 2024.
February 2024: Final development sprint
Tired of all the previous security breaches, Rockstar Games went into lockdown mode like Drake’s cosplay ranch. In February, they told all of their employees that they needed to return to the office in April to increase productivity and security since they were in the final stages of production.
Employees were not on board with this “dev push,” expressing a range of concerns on how the removal of working from home negatively impacted them. The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain published a report criticizing Rockstar for the mandatory return to office and said their reasons were unproven.
May 2024: ‘GTA VI’ set to release in fall 2025
Internal conflicts over Rockstar’s return-to-office policy prompted questions about whether the game would be delayed into 2026. Take-Two, another GTA parent company, finally addressed the speculation in its May earnings report, affirming that 2025 was still the target year.
“We do feel highly confident that we’ll deliver [Grand Theft Auto VI] in fall of 2025,” said Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick in an interview with IGN.
September 2024: ‘GTA VI’ gets in hot water for its soundtrack
The official GTA VI soundtrack is unknown, but one update about the game’s music came from an artist who spoke about declining to be included.
Martyn Ware, founder of the British group Heaven 17, released the hit single “Temptation” in 1983. Despite raking up the plays and achievements like La Flame, Ware revealed on X that he got lowballed when asked if the single could be included in the upcoming game.
September 2024: Rumors circle of a delay until 2026
Rumors of the game being delayed once again to “early/mid-2026” began circulating in September due to a post by X user billsyliamgta. But before gamers could crash out, there was speculation about where the X user had gotten their information.
More credible sources came forward and disputed the claim. Video game industry reporter Jason Schierer took to X with direct information from Rockstar employees that no internal announcement about a delay has been made.
Nevertheless, former Rockstar Games technical director Obbe Vermeij weighed in on the situation and shared why he thinks the delay announcement will likely come in May 2025. He said he had no insider information, but his opinion was based on his experience working for the company.
The company hasn’t addressed the new delay rumors or drama related to its music licensing, but it’s a race to see if Playboi Carti’s I AM MUSIC album or GTA VI drops first. Hopefully, though, it won’t be 2028 before you can drive 100 MPH through the Miami sands.
