GTA VI Launch Timeline

Industry analysts anticipate that the next Grand Theft Auto will be out sometime in Take-Two’s 2024 fiscal year, which runs from April 2023 through March 2024, but developers are skeptical. The game has been in development in some form since 2014. Although there are loose schedules in place, people interviewed for this article said they didn’t know of any firm release date and that they expect the game to be at least two years away. Earlier this year, a group of designers quit Rockstar’s Edinburgh office, telling colleagues they were sick of the lack of progress.

What's Next

With the unprecedented longevity of GTAV, we know many of you have been asking us about a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series. With every new project we embark on, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we have previously delivered — and we are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway. We look forward to sharing more as soon as we are ready, so please stay tuned to the Rockstar Newswire for official details.

On behalf of our entire team, we thank you all for your support and cannot wait to step into the future with you!

- Rockstar Games

Over the past few years, we have been steadily moving more development resources towards the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series — understanding more than ever the need to exceed players’ expectations and for this next entry to be the best it can possibly be — and as a result, we are in the process of making some changes to how we support Red Dead Online.

After a public controversy four years ago, Rockstar, the maker of Grand Theft Auto, is reinventing itself as a kinder, gentler company. But employees aren’t sure it can still produce the chart-topping caliber of game the studio has become known for.

The development of Grand Theft Auto VI has been slower than impatient fans and even longtime employees have expected, despite morale across the company being higher than ever, according to many staffers. Between the company’s new direction and the 2019 departure of Dan Houser, who led creative direction on many previous games, all indications suggest Grand Theft Auto VI will feel very different than its predecessor.

Here’s what we know.

There will be a female protagonist

The game will feature a playable female protagonist for the first time, according to people familiar with the matter. The woman is Latina and will be one of a pair of leading characters in a story influenced by the bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde. Developers are also being cautious not to “punch down” by making jokes about marginalized groups, the people said, in contrast with previous Grand Theft Auto games.

The game’s release is likely two years away

Industry analysts anticipate that the next Grand Theft Auto will be out sometime in Take-Two’s 2024 fiscal year, which runs from April 2023 through March 2024, but developers are skeptical. The game has been in development in some form since 2014. Although there are loose schedules in place, people interviewed for this article said they didn’t know of any firm release date and that they expect the game to be at least two years away. Earlier this year, a group of designers quit Rockstar’s Edinburgh office, telling colleagues they were sick of the lack of progress.

Rockstar wanted to include large portions of North and South America but had to be reeled in

Original plans for the title, which is code-named Project Americas, were for it to be bigger than any Grand Theft Auto game to date. Early designs called for the inclusion of territories modeled after large swaths of North and South America, according to people familiar with the plans.

The new map is a fictionalized Miami but will update over time

The game’s new map is now focused on a fictional version of Miami and its surrounding areas. Rockstar’s plan is to continually update the game over time, adding new missions and cities on a regular basis, which leadership hopes will lead to less crunch during the game’s final months.

Sales of Grand Theft Auto V also remained strong, and to date, the title has sold-in nearly 170 million units. With development of the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series well underway, the Rockstar Games team is determined to once again set creative benchmarks for the series, our industry, and for all entertainment, just as the label has done with every one of their frontline releases.

We recently suffered a network intrusion in which an unauthorized third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from our systems, including early development footage of the next Grand Theft Auto. At this time, we do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services nor any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects.

We are extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared with you all in this way. Our work on the next Grand Theft Auto game will continue as planned and we remain as committed as ever to delivering the experience to you, our players, that truly exceeds your expectations. We will update everyone again soon and, of course, will properly introduce you to the next game when it is ready. We want to thank everyone for their ongoing support through this situation.

Rockstar Games, a division of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., plans to announce the next highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto game as early as this week, according to people familiar with its plans.

The company plans to then publish a trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI next month to celebrate Rockstar’s 25th anniversary, said the people, who asked to not be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. A spokesperson for Rockstar didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment sent after business hours.

No video game has driven more fervor from fans and investors than Grand Theft Auto VI, which is expected to be one of the most significant entertainment releases of the decade. Its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto V, has sold more than 185 million copies and is the second-best selling video game of all time, behind Minecraft, which had the advantage of also being playable on phones.

Rockstar has spent the last few years working to clean up its corporate culture and work-life balance after employees complained of burnout during the making of its last game, 2018’s Red Dead Redemption 2.

Last year, hackers released hours of early footage from Grand Theft Auto VI. Rockstar blamed a “network intrusion” and said it “will properly introduce you to this next game when it is ready.” Two UK teens were convicted of the hack in a London criminal trial earlier this year.

The game is set in a fictional version of Miami and features two protagonists, a man and a woman, Bloomberg News has reported.

Take-Two is scheduled to report earnings on Wednesday.

Next month marks the 25th anniversary of Rockstar Games.

Thanks to the incredible support of our players worldwide, we have had the opportunity to create games we are truly passionate about — without you, none of this would be possible, and we are so grateful to all of you for sharing this journey with us.

In 1998, Rockstar Games was founded on the idea that video games could come to be as essential to culture as any other form of entertainment, and we hope that we have created games you love in our efforts to be part of that evolution.

We are very excited to let you know that in early December, we will release the first trailer for the next Grand Theft Auto.

We look forward to many more years of sharing these experiences with all of you.

Thank you,

Sam Houser

Grand Theft Auto VI heads to the state of Leonida, home to the neon-soaked streets of Vice City and beyond in the biggest, most immersive evolution of the Grand Theft Auto series yet. Coming 2025 to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

“Grand Theft Auto VI continues our efforts to push the limits of what’s possible in highly immersive, story-driven open-world experiences,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. “We’re thrilled to be able to share this new vision with players everywhere.”

Grand Theft Auto VI heads to the state of Leonida, home to the neon-soaked streets of Vice City and beyond in the biggest, most immersive evolution of the Grand Theft Auto series yet.

"Our outlook reflects a narrowing of Rockstar Games' previously established window of calendar 2025 to Fall of calendar 2025 for Grand Theft Auto VI. We are highly confident that Rockstar Games will deliver an unparalleled entertainment experience, and our expectations for the commercial impact of the title continue to increase."

"Rockstar has an approach to platforms which we’ve seen before, and they’ll make more announcements in due time. I do believe that the right strategy for our business is to be where the consumer is, and historically what this company has done is address consumers anywhere they are, on any platform that makes sense over time."