Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, one of the most reliable voices in gaming, just put a couple of things on the record about Grand Theft Auto VI, particularly about its release date and the future of Grand Theft Auto Online.
No more than 24 hours after Take-Two Interactive concluded its latest earnings call, where, among other things, the company revealed that it lost millions to a cancelled project and that it's betting huge on GTA 6, the video game industry, who reportedly has an estranged relationship with Rockstar Games, put up a video where the internet, as it always does, blew his statements way out of proportion.
First, let's start with the reassuring part. Schreier flatly said the game is not delayed. It is still coming out November 19. He added the usual honest caveat that delays can technically happen even when a game is basically finished, but, for all intents and purposes, he's sticking to his earlier statement.
Second, Schreier also pointed out that TTWO is only talking about GTA 6 as a single-player game right now. It has said nothing about the next version of GTA Online, the multiplayer mode, and claims it isn't planning to address it anytime soon. However, he didn't say GTA Online is delayed, nor give a release window, or say it was in trouble, or hint that anything was wrong with it. He simply said that Rockstar isn't talking about it yet.
What Schreier Said Versus What People Heard
What He Actually Said | What People Turned It Into |
|---|---|
The game is not delayed, still November 19 | Somehow read as bad news anyway |
Take-Two is only discussing single-player | The online mode must be delayed |
No online details are coming soon | The online mode is in trouble |
He gave no online release date at all | People invented one to worry about |
Separating Jason Schreier's actual comments from the panic they set off.
GTA Online matters, A LOT. Sure, Grand Theft Auto V had a single-player story, but the thing that made it a money-printing machine for over a decade was its online component, the separate multiplayer world where people spend real money on in-game cash and cosmetics. It is the golden goose. So naturally, people want to know what the next one looks like, and Rockstar saying nothing feels louder than it is.
To be fair, this is exactly how it went last time, too. When GTA V came out and set a still-standing record in 2013, its online mode wasn't there on day one. GTA Online arrived about two weeks after the main game, once the single-player campaign had its moment, and it took a lot of tinkering to get it working properly. So Rockstar focusing purely on the story right now, and staying quiet on multiplayer, is not a red flag. It is the same playbook it ran last time.
Rockstar is most likely deliberately keeping the spotlight on the single-player game for launch, then rolling out the new GTA Online sometime after, exactly as before.
Besides, there's really no reason to worry about the successor. GTA Online is still making enormous amounts of money. If Rockstar announced a shiny new online mode too early, it would give millions of people a reason to stop spending on the current one while they wait. TTWO CEO Strauss Zelnick also went out of his way earlier this year to reassure everyone that it will continue supporting GTA Online well after GTA 6 comes out.
GTA 6 giveaway
Win a full copy of GTA 6 Ultimate Edition.We're giving away full copies of GTA 6 Ultimate Edition in several draws through launch. Enter with your email, then join in once on the site. One entry per person.
Prize
A full copy of GTA 6 Ultimate Edition
Email first, then one site action during the draw window.
So, to make it clear, the GTA 6 release date is holding, which is the news that actually matters, and the online silence is normal, expected, and probably strategic rather than a sign of trouble. If anything, all this tells you Rockstar wants GTA 6's story to stand on its own at launch instead of being immediately swallowed by multiplayer, which a lot of people who care about the single-player campaign will be quietly glad to hear.
Ultimately, the only genuinely open question is how long the wait for the new online mode will be, and that is a question for after launch.
We will find out when Rockstar is good and ready, which, if history is any guide, means once it has finished selling you the story first.
For now, it's best we stay tuned for Grand Theft Auto VI: The Extended Look, which premieres on Netflix on August 27.