Rockstars Grand Theft Auto 5 has reigned as one of the most purchased, loved, and played video games ever. Fans have been playing GTA 5 since 2013 and have been anxiously awaiting its next installment. On February 4th, 2022, GTA 6 was officially announced by Rockstar in a blog update post for GTA 5. Following the confirmation, further announcements were made, and it was expected to be launched by 2025. Fast forward two years, and Rockstar revealed a post that devastated fans. The game will be delayed until next year.
GTA 6 has been a turbulent development process, with the game being teased to the public. Its history begins when it was quietly announced at the bottom of an update post. No trailer, title, or mark about the launch date. Just a big clue. It still sent the internet into a frenzy. With zero information other than confirmation, fans were craving some clue of what it would be like. On September 18, 2022, the game experienced one of the most significant video game leaks ever. It revealed basic characters, locations, and cars. Legal action was taken immediately after the leak, and the hackers were apprehended. Rock
star responded on Twitter(X), saying, “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 an experience to you, our players, that truly exceeds your expectations.” It didn’t delay work, but it made the fanbase happy to see progress.
Since the leak, Rockstar released the official trailer on December 4th, 2023. It was one of the most viewed YouTube videos within 24 hours. Showcasing the setting, characters, graphics, and most importantly, the release date. Late 2025. After the trailer, very little news or updates were said. After more than a year of no news, the next update was the announcement of the 6-month delay. This wasn’t a shocker to fans because we’ve seen this happen with other Rockstar games. GTA IV and GTA 5 both had month-long delays.
However, Rockstar has a logical and fair reason behind these delays. The key is more time to improve quality, showing their dedication to not rushing and launching a cheap game. They say this every time there is a delay on their websites and social media. Another issue is that the game’s graphics are so high quality that they are having problems making it available on older consoles. They can’t handle the intense visuals. The last reason was that Rockstar mandated all employees to come back to the office instead of working from home a few months ago. Everyone had to come back to a 5-day work week. It was a sudden shock to the workers, which left them disrupted.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is set to be one of the most groundbreaking and high-graphic games to come out in decades. Rockstar’s bar is set high after their high-grossing GTA 5. Thus, the delay. Rockstar takes extra care of its games and fans, and it needs ample time to perfect what it is doing in the office.
