It seems like only six months ago that we were bringing you the bad news that the next title in the video gaming culture phenomenon series Grand Theft Auto had been delayed to 2026, and here we are again.
Yes, six months since announcing that Grand Theft Auto VI was now firmly inked in for a date just over a year from then, Rockstar Games has again announced that GTAVI will be coming in a little more than a year’s time. November 19th, 2026 to be precise. We were expecting an update on the launch right around now, but not like this.
In a statement accompanying the announcement, Rockstar explained that the additional time will enable the various development teams to “finish the game with the level of polish” that players would “expect and deserve” from a title of this magnitude. That’s rather reminiscent of the statement released in May which used the phrase “deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve”.
It’s now the third delay for the game since any launch window was announced, with the original plan being a 2025 arrival as shared in December 2023. The announcement trailer for that is one of the most-watched, non-music videos on YouTube, having accumulated 268 million views to date. May’s “Trailer 2” is at 137 million in just under six months and even beat Deadpool & Wolverine across all platforms.
Although not necessarily as focused on driving as our usual fare, the GTA series is one that’s always been pretty close to GTPlanet’s heart. Back when we were “just” a forum site, the very first game-specific sub-forum — created in May 2008 — was for Grand Theft Auto’s various titles, and it still retains fifth spot after Assetto Corsa, Forza Motorsport, and Project CARS/Motor Racing.
Of course they’ve all had more than one game releasing in the last decade too. The last full title to launch was Grand Theft Auto V in September 2013 on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, two entire console generations ago — though it has been updated for both eighth- and ninth-generation devices. Somehow it still sells so well that it’s frequently in the top ten PlayStation downloads each month, and Take-Two has announced that it recently passed the 220 million mark for units sold.
Nonetheless, there is quite a bit of driving in the title — it is named after a car-specific crime after all — and although it’s always been more on the arcade side of things and with fictional vehicles inspired by the real thing, acquiring, modifying, and racing cars has always been a core feature.
We’re all just going to have to wait another year before we can experience that in Vice City once again. Since we’ve already been waiting 23 years to return to the Florida-inspired Leonida state, what’s another one going to matter…
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