GameRoll has brought up some interesting fact checking about Grand Theft Auto 6.
He was in a conversation on Twitter about when the game started development. SynthPotato claimed that it started in 2018, but GameRoll replied with this:
Actually we don’t know this either. Strauss said it really kicked into gear in 2020 which would make sense given the company restructure they did after RDR2’s work environment.
It was probably late 2018-2020 on a smaller scale and then really kicked off after that. Pre-alpha stage in 2021-2022 says it all really.
Given the gravity of this claim and its implications, we needed to check if we could verify this information. So we checked the first possible resource.
What Does Wikipedia Say About Grand Theft Auto 6 Development?
Here’s the key passages from the game’s Wikipedia page:
Rockstar Games began preliminary work on Grand Theft Auto VI in 2014 after Grand Theft Auto V’s release. Early development started after Red Dead Redemption 2’s release in 2018, and principal production began in 2020.
That may have seemed unserious, but in this age of misinformation, we could actually use a resource that will cite its sources. And there’s some interesting things that we found out here.
Double Checking The Development Dates
Jason Schreier is the sole source for the claims that Grand Theft Auto 6 started pre-production in 2014 and then early development in 2018. Everyone else is citing his reporting. While Schreier is generally regarded as a credible source, no one has emerged to corroborate or contradict these claims.
In other words, we only have Schreier’s word for these claims.
On the contrary, we have a reasonable and definitive source for the claim that principal production started in 2020. No less than Take-Two president Strauss Zelnick said this in their last annual financial meeting to investors:
Rockstar expects to release Grand Theft Auto VI on May 26, 2026, which is in our Fiscal Year 2027. I believe affording Rockstar additional time for such a groundbreaking project is a worthy investment. Grand Theft Auto VI began development in earnest in 2020 following the massive success of Red Dead Redemption 2, and the title is now the most anticipated entertainment property of all time.
So When Did Rockstar Start Making Grand Theft Auto 6?
Strauss Zelnick sets proper expectations for when we can say Grand Theft Auto 6 started development. If you’re thinking about how long it will take them to finish the game, they started in 2020.
Whatever amount of work Rockstar put into Grand Theft Auto 6 before 2020, we should think of it as a game that’s taken five years to make, and needed roughly a year more to finish.
If you want a real definitive timeline for when Grand Theft Auto 6 started development, with dates for milestones, we can only hope Take-Two or Rockstar tells us.
And they could very well do that someday! But you definitely should not be expecting it while they’re still busy finishing it.
