Take-Two Interactive has not budged on its schedule for Grand Theft Auto 6, but they admit that it’s still subject to change.
They confirmed their 2025 product lineup in the press release for their Fiscal Q3 2025 results report, stating:
“Looking ahead, this calendar year is shaping up to be one of the strongest ever for Take-Two, as we plan to launch Sid Meier’s Civilization VII on February 11th, Mafia: The Old Country in the Summer, Grand Theft Auto VI in the Fall, and Borderlands 4.”
Subsequently, Strauss Zelnick spoke to several games media outlets about the games schedule. As reported by Dexerto, Zelnick said this to Variety just before the Q3 earnings call:
“We’ve announced a pretty narrow window. So I think our view is that right now, that’s fine. And then when it’s appropriate, of course, Rockstar is going to have more to say.”
But Zelnick was singing a different tune to Vulturebeat, stating:
“It’s always the possibilities in our business. However, we’ve given the narrow window for upcoming titles. After all, it is February and we’ve outlined the release schedule through calendar year end.”
Zelnick then told IGN that the company is hesitant to “jinx things,” which may be why we still don’t have an official release date. He said:
“Look, there’s always a risk of slippage and I think as soon as you say words like absolutely, you jinx things… We know that Rockstar seeks perfection. I never claim success before it occurs.
I’m fond of saying arrogance is the enemy of continued success, so we’re all running scared and looking over our shoulders and we know that the competition is not asleep. Our whole organization is super excited.”
Zelnick’s statements across the three media outlets don’t necessarily contradict each other, but it’s clear that they combine to form a bigger picture than if someone only read one of these reports. With rapid rumors of delays, Take-Two has also been very cautious about making announcements about the game’s progress.
We can assume that Grand Theft Auto 6 could have taken longer than it should have for various factors. For example, the pandemic forced the whole industry to adapt to work-at-home regulations. The subsequent shift back to working in the office caused friction between Rockstar management and developers. If some of those rumors are accurate, Take-Two did not acquiesce on all the demands their employees made, but they did ease off on demanding they hit a deadline.
And we have to assume that’s because Take-Two has been noticing how things have been playing out with AAA titles that released too early or in a bad state. They can’t afford to just get Grand Theft Auto 6 out and fix it later, like the big budget AAA side of the industry has gotten used to. One need only evoke words like Concord and Ubisoft to evoke fear in their peers.
For this reason, we believe it would actually be a good thing if Take-Two does end up delaying Grand Theft Auto 6. While fans could get annoyed by that, they should appreciate that Take-Two and Rockstar would have done it to make sure they get it exactly right.
With all that said, the industry also can’t afford to Grand Theft Auto 6 to revitalize the video game business, as they hope it will. It could be Grand Theft Auto 6 or the Switch 2, or a combination of the two, but whatever can end this wave of layoffs and studio closures will be welcome news for everyone.
