Grand Theft Auto VI Pushed Again, Once more, To Late 2026 As Take-Two Falls

(Image courtesy of Take-Two Interactive)

Talk about burying the lead. In Take-Two Interactive’s Q2 earnings announcement today, the corporate dwelled on enormous uptake for the newest model of its basketball franchise, NBA 2K26, and the nice and cozy reception for a glitchy Borderlands 4, whereas mentioning far down that, oh by the way in which. that the writer’s largest franchise now received’t be out for one more 12 months.

It’s the newest in a seemingly countless parade of delays for Grand Theft Auto VI, anticipated by many trade observers to be the most important leisure launch of all time, at any time when it could arrive.

“(Take-Two development studio) Rockstar Games has announced that Grand Theft Auto VI will now be released on November 19, 2026, giving the team some additional time to finish the game with the high level of polish players expect and deserve,” the corporate stated in its official launch. “Rockstar has our full support of course, and we are confident they will deliver an unrivaled blockbuster entertainment experience.”

It’s been a dozen years since GTA5, because it’s recognized, first debuted on the long-ago PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, migrating to these consoles’ successors the next 12 months, PCs in 2015, and the PS5 and Xbox Series X and S a full three years in the past. Along the way in which, the sport has bought a staggering 220 million models worldwide, the corporate’s stated.

Helping preserve GTA V important is the corporate’s Grand Theft Auto Online, a persistent massively multiplayer on-line world. GTA Online remains to be releasing “holiday-themed jobs and rewards, as well as new vehicles, community events and outfits,” Take-Two stated, rising paying membership greater than 20% 12 months over 12 months.

The newest delay pushes a GTA6 debut from the final promised arrival, in spring of subsequent 12 months, to the center of the 2026 vacation season.

That places it again in the midst of the sport trade’s largest gross sales quarter every year. It additionally units up a head-to-head competitors for gamer affections with Microsoft-owned Activision’s best-selling Call of Duty annual launch subsequent 12 months.

This 12 months’s launch, COD Black Ops 7, debuts subsequent week, whereas Electronic Arts has efficiently revived its Battlefield franchise, already promoting not less than 10 million copies of Battlefield 6 since its October 10 debut.

EA, which has agreed to a $55 billion acquisition by a consortium led by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, has stated it plans to maintain spinning out new Battlefield content material from 4 improvement studios to create a sturdy ongoing platform, which means Battlefield 6 probably will nonetheless be out there when GTA6 ultimately rolls out.

At least the cabinet isn’t naked at Take-Two lately whereas GTA6 takes one other couple of quarters getting buffed up within the Rockstar storage.

Net bookings, a key trade metric, hit $1.96 billion for the “fantastic” second quarter, the corporate stated, “which vastly exceeded our expectations and represent the best second quarter of net bookings in our company’s history.”

Chief among the drivers of that good financial news was its latest pro basketball simulator NBA 2K26, “which set multiple records and has been delivering an unprecedented level of in-game spending.”

Among the notable additions to this 12 months’s launch had been gamers and groups from the WNBA, as a part of the MYTEAM mode. NBA 2K26 has bought 5 million models since its debut this summer season, revenues additional boosted by greater gross sales of premium variations, the corporate stated.

Other sequels additionally hit the market, together with off-kilter looter-shooter Borderlands 4, which acquired good evaluations but in addition suffered loads of glitches on the PC aspect. Mafia: The Old Country additionally debuted as the primary Mafia title in a decade, putting the sport’s motion again in time, in Italy.

Mobile gaming additionally overperformed, led by Toon Blast, up 26% 12 months over 12 months, Match Factory, Color Block Jam, Zynga Poker and a number of other of 2K’s cell sports activities titles.

All of that didn’t counteract the deflating impression of one other GTA6 delay, nonetheless. The market despatched Take-Two shares practically 1% on a poor general day for the markets. Share costs dropped greater than $2, to round $252.