Take Two doubles down on GTA 6 release date tease – but I'm not so sure

09 August 2023 , 11:10

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2023 marks the 10-year anniversary of GTA 5, and it looks like GTA 6 could be on the horizon (Image: Rockstar Games)

Take Two's latest earnings report was a fairly standard release, but wording within the report may have inadvertently revealed a potential GTA 6 release date.

GTA 6 is likely the most anticipated release of all time, with even the slightest hint of info being a big deal. And it's no wonder, as it's been almost 10 years since GTA 5 was released with virtually no official info (not counting leaks, of which there have been a few). Luckily, we may have got the most concrete GTA 6 release date info yet thanks to Take Two's Q1 2024 Earnings Report.

The line everyone is interested in shows up early on in the report, saying "We remain confident that we are positioning our business for a significant inflection point in fiscal 2025, which we believe will include new record levels of operating performance". An expectation of 'record levels of operating performance' certainly seems like they plan to release a game that is guaranteed to sell like hotcakes, maybe that's a GTA 6 release date perhaps? This timeframe matches up with the previous GTA 6 expected release date, with known GTA insider Tez2 saying "Their aimed-always-changing-not-set-in-stone deadline is holiday 2024".

The GTA 6 release date timeframe set out by Take Two is between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025. Considering the leaks and speculation, I wouldn't expect the game to show up until the later part of that, with past Rockstar Games titles typically releasing during the latter half of the year.

Slipping away

It's worth noting that past Rockstar titles have had a tendency to be delayed following a release date announcement. GTA 5 was originally slated to drop in Spring 2013 before slipping to September 17, 2013. Meanwhile, Red Dead Redemption 2 was first announced with a Fall 2017 release window, then it was delayed until Spring 2018, before slipping once again to its final date of October 26, 2018. Basically, when we do get a proper GTA 6 release date, maybe don't put too much faith in it staying that way.

GTA 6 may scrap content to sell as DLC later to make 2024 release

That being said, with the 10-year wait after GTA 5 and the departure of many high-level Rockstar Games staff, like series producer Leslie Benzies and producer/writer Dan Houser, it's going to be hard for any version of GTA 6 to live up to the lofty expectations being set for it. So if Rockstar wants to take more time crafting the best sequel they possibly can, they should take advantage of it, GTA Online is probably making enough money to sustain the company in the meantime.

Scott McCrae