From first confirmation to November 19: GTA VI's release history

As of October 27, 2026. Grand Theft Auto VI is due on November 19, 2026, and getting there took a while. Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive narrowed the date down step by step and pushed it back twice. This timeline follows the official announcements.

The milestones

• February 4, 2022: in a community update mostly about GTA Online, Rockstar confirms that active development of the next Grand Theft Auto is well underway. No title or date is given. The post itself was mainly about bringing GTA V and GTA Online to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

• December 2023: Trailer 1, which Rockstar lists under December 4, officially reveals Grand Theft Auto VI. The Newswire post names 2025 as the launch year for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

• May 16, 2024: in its fiscal year results, Take-Two narrows the window from calendar 2025 to fall 2025. The listed platforms are PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

• May 2, 2025: Rockstar moves the game to May 26, 2026. The studio apologizes and says it needs the extra time to deliver the quality players expect.

• May 6, 2025: Trailer 2 is released.

• November 6, 2025: a second delay sets the launch for Thursday, November 19, 2026. Rockstar apologizes again and points to the polish it still wants to add. In the same letter, the studio looks ahead to the sprawling state of Leonida and a return to modern-day Vice City.

• June 18 to 25, 2026: on June 18, Rockstar announces that pre-orders open on June 25. Its June 24 post confirms November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

• February 3, May 21 and August 7, 2026: Take-Two keeps November 19, 2026 in its quarterly results, each time for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve (Rockstar Games, Newswire, November 6, 2025)

Where things stand

The official GTA VI site still lists November 19, 2026. No further delay has been announced. Since November 3, Rockstar Support gives midnight local time as the launch time, in all regions and on both consoles.

According to Rockstar, players who pre-order digitally can pre-load the game from November 10 (November 12 was named at first). The physical version contains a download code and is due at retailers from November 12.

Every date up to launch is in our release tracker. The related Rockstar announcements are collected in our Official section.

Sources

• Rockstar Newswire: Grand Theft Auto Community Update (February 4, 2022) (opens in a new tab)

• Rockstar Newswire: Grand Theft Auto VI - Watch Trailer 1 Now (opens in a new tab)

• Rockstar Games: Grand Theft Auto VI Launch Trailer (video list) (opens in a new tab)

• Take-Two Interactive: Fiscal Year 2024 results (May 16, 2024) (opens in a new tab)

• Rockstar Newswire: Grand Theft Auto VI is Now Coming May 26, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

• Rockstar Newswire: Grand Theft Auto VI — Watch Trailer 2 Now (opens in a new tab)

• Rockstar Newswire: Grand Theft Auto VI is Now Set to Launch November 19, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

• Rockstar Newswire: Grand Theft Auto VI Pre-Orders Begin on June 25 (opens in a new tab)

• Rockstar Newswire: Pre-Order Grand Theft Auto VI on June 25 (opens in a new tab)

• Take-Two Interactive: Fiscal Third Quarter 2026 results (February 3, 2026) (opens in a new tab)

• Take-Two Interactive: Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2026 results (May 21, 2026) (opens in a new tab)

• Take-Two Interactive: Fiscal First Quarter 2027 results (August 7, 2026) (opens in a new tab)

• Rockstar Games: Grand Theft Auto VI (opens in a new tab)

• Rockstar Newswire: Grand Theft Auto VI Pre-Load Begins on November 10 (November 3, 2026) (opens in a new tab)

• Rockstar Support: Grand Theft Auto VI regional pre-load and release times on PlayStation 5 and XBOX Series X|S (opens in a new tab)

Checked on 9 November 2026.