Industry Insider Claims GTA 6 Delay Has Been Known for Months

In case you missed it, Rockstar Games has delayed Grand Theft Auto 6 to May 26, 2026. Mere hours after the initial announcement, most are still left in shock by the news. But if you ask Jason Schreier, he isn't the least surprised by Rockstar's decision.

After confirming last year that GTA 6 is still on track for a 2025 release, Schreier doubled down on his earlier predictions back in January.

In a post on Bluesky, the Bloomberg journalist and New York Times bestseller author, who was one of the first to reveal that GTA 6 will likely be out by 2025 years ago, said that his sources over at Rockstar have long expressed doubt that GTA 6 was going to meet its initial release window.

According to Schreier, the people he has talked to all mentioned that there's still more work to be done with GTA 6 and that Rockstar appears to be genuinely concerned about crunch.

This is in line with Rockstar's announcement, saying that they need more time to work on GTA 6.

While the GTA 6 delay is certainly not the news Grand Theft Auto fans were hoping to hear this May (and this early, too!), Schreier's report is good news.

Rockstar was previously under fire for subjecting developers to terrible hours and a toxic work environment, particularly during the development of Red Dead Redemption 2. The company has since gone to great lengths to fix its workplace culture.

Although Rockstar's decision to bring workers back to the office last year ruffled feathers, it certainly seems like the studio is no longer in the business of meeting deadlines for the sake of it, which is good news.

It's unfortunate that Take-Two Interactive will have to take the brunt of the heat. But the company is partly to blame for this as well. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick reaffirmed multiple times this year that GTA 6 is still on track for its original release date.

If what Schreier is saying is true, Zelnick shouldn't have teased GTA 6's imminent release so much.

Nevertheless, Zelnick has already expressed his support for Rockstar's decision, but that doesn't make the financial hit any less brutal.

Already, Take-Two's share prices are down 7% after posting record highs as investors and fans alike anticipated positive GTA 6 news on May 15.

Take-Two's next earnings call is still an important event, especially as the company will, among other things, likely have to find ways to plug the massive hole left by delaying GTA 6 by at least two quarters.

A combination of Grand Theft Auto 4 getting a remaster, along the lines of the Unreal Engine 5 remaster of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion , and a next-gen update of Red Dead Redemption 2 are being suggested (including by us). Perhaps Rockstar and Take-Two may want to throw in a GTA 5 port announcement for the Nintendo Switch 2 while they're at it.

As most of the world starts waking up or going home to news of a GTA 6 delay, expect the rest of the gaming industry to start reacting to the biggest delay in recent years.