The wait for GTA 6 may be stretching longer than fans hoped. Despite a targeted November 19, 2026, release window, new reporting suggests Rockstar Games still isn’t ready to lock anything in—raising the possibility of yet another delay for one of the most anticipated games of all time.
According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, the issue isn’t marketing or strategy—it’s development.
Speaking on the Button Mash gaming podcast, Schreier said the game was still not “content complete,” meaning core pieces are actively being finished. “This is a big and complicated game,” Schreier explained. “The last I heard, it was still not content complete.”
In large-scale game development, “content complete” typically comes after “feature complete” and before full-scale bug testing. Schreier noted that teams are still finalizing missions and levels, and determining what ultimately makes it into the final build. Until that phase wraps, release dates remain fluid.
Schreier also pointed out that this situation isn’t unusual for Rockstar. He referenced the studio’s history with Red Dead Redemption 2, which was announced for fall 2017, then pushed to spring 2018, and then delayed again to fall 2018, where it eventually launched. “I wouldn’t be super shocked if that’s what happens again,” he said.
As of this writing, Rockstar is still aiming for a late-2026 release, but even that target appears far from guaranteed. “It’s really hard to say right now,” Schreier admitted. “I don’t think anyone at Rockstar can tell you with 100 percent certainty that they will make it out in November.”
Still, not all signs point to trouble. Schreier added that this release window feels “more real” than some of the studio’s previous timelines, suggesting internal progress is happening—even if it’s not finished yet.
Ideally, once the game reaches content completion, developers would have a meaningful period to polish and fix bugs before launch.
In a follow-up posted to BlueSky on January 8, Jason Schreier clarified that his comments were widely misread. He said the takeaway wasn’t that a delay is inevitable, but that he “wouldn’t be shocked if GTA 6 does come out this fall, following the same delay pattern as Red Dead Redemption 2.”
Schreier acknowledged that another delay is always possible—“it’s a video game”—but pushed back on how his remarks were framed, calling the blog post “very misleading” and adding that the confusion could’ve been avoided if outlets had simply reached out to him directly.
For now, fans are left doing what they’ve done for years: waiting.