The date, and how it moved twice
Release date & delays
Grand Theft Auto VI launches on 19 November 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. It has been delayed twice. Here is every date Rockstar has given, when it changed, and what the company actually said each time.
Short answer
When is GTA 6 released?
GTA 6 releases on 19 November 2026 for PlayStation 5, PS5 Pro and Xbox Series X|S. It has been delayed twice — from Fall 2025 to 26 May 2026, then to November 2026. Digital pre-orders can pre-load from 12 November 2026. No PC, PS4, Xbox One or Switch 2 version has been announced.
The confirmed date
19 November 2026, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S
OfficialRockstar Games announced the current date on 6 November 2025. It has not moved since, and the company reaffirmed it when pre-orders opened on 25 June 2026 and again alongside the Extended Look on 27 August 2026.
It is a Thursday, which breaks with Rockstar's habit of Tuesday and Friday launches. GTA V shipped on a Tuesday; Red Dead Redemption 2 on a Friday. A mid-November Thursday puts the game squarely in the holiday retail window with a full weekend of sales inside its first reporting period.
Every delay, in order
Rockstar confirms development
The company acknowledges “the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series” is in active development. No date given.
Trailer 1, targeting 2025
The reveal trailer ends with a “2025” card. Rockstar later narrows this to Fall 2025.
Delay one — moved to 26 May 2026
Rockstar apologises for the wait and says the extra time is needed “to deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve.” No technical explanation given.
Trailer 2 lands four days later
The second trailer arrives across every major platform simultaneously and sets an all-time video launch record.
Delay two — moved to 19 November 2026
A second slip, again attributed to polish rather than any specific problem. Take-Two restates its confidence in the window on the following earnings call.
Pre-orders open
Standard and Ultimate editions go live. Rockstar publishes the full contents of both and the 12 November pre-load date.
Extended Look confirms the date again
26 minutes of PS5 gameplay closes on the 19 November 2026 card.
Pattern worth noticing
Both delays were announced roughly six months ahead of the date they replaced, and both were framed in the same language about quality. Rockstar has never delayed a Grand Theft Auto title inside a three-month window from release.
Will it be delayed a third time?
Nothing is certain until the game is manufactured and pre-loading, but the evidence now points strongly against another slip.
Against a third delay
- Rockstar has shown 26 minutes of finished-looking gameplay, captured on retail PS5 hardware. Studios do not run a showcase of that scale from a build they expect to hold for another year.
- Pre-orders have been taking money since June 2026, and a physical release with a printed download code is in the retail chain.
- A pre-load date is published. 12 November 2026 implies gold master is either done or days away.
- Take-Two's fiscal year ends 31 March 2027. November keeps GTA 6 inside FY27, which the company has repeatedly guided investors toward.
- Rob Nelson has completed full playthroughs at roughly 80 hours, which means the campaign is content-complete end to end.
For caution
- Both previous delays arrived without warning signs visible from outside the studio.
- The August 2026 build leak is a genuine disruption, though it is a security and legal problem rather than a development one.
- Rockstar has never publicly committed to “this date is final.”
No credible insider is currently predicting a third delay
UnconfirmedAs of 31 August 2026, the reporters with the strongest GTA 6 track records — including Bloomberg's Jason Schreier and Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson — are treating November as real. That is a change from mid-2025, when several were openly sceptical of the May 2026 date.
Platforms, and what is missing
| Platform | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 5 | Confirmed Official | Base and Pro. Reportedly 30 fps on the base console; Rockstar has not confirmed frame rates. |
| Xbox Series X|S | Confirmed Official | Both the Series X and the Series S. |
| PC | Not announced Unconfirmed | Rockstar has said nothing. GTA V's PC port arrived 19 months after console; RDR2's took 12. |
| PS4 / Xbox One | Ruled out | Last-gen is not supported. This was settled at announcement. |
| Nintendo Switch 2 | Not announced Unconfirmed | No credible reporting suggests a version exists. |
| Cloud streaming | Not announced | No GeForce Now or xCloud commitment. |
If you are a PC player
Plan for 2027 at the earliest. Rockstar has never announced a simultaneous PC release for a mainline GTA, and has given no indication that this changes. More on the PC situation →
Pre-load, unlock times & pre-orders
Pre-orders opened on 25 June 2026. Digital pre-orders can pre-load from 12 November 2026, a full week ahead of launch — unusually generous, and a sensible move for a game expected to be one of the largest downloads ever shipped to a console.
Rockstar has not published an official unlock time. Its recent pattern has been a midnight-local unlock for digital purchases, which is what the pre-load window suggests here.
The physical “standard edition” is a box containing a download code rather than a disc. There is no disc-based release. Full edition breakdown →
Common questions
Short, direct answers. Each one links to the section above that explains it in full.
When is GTA 6 coming out?#
Grand Theft Auto VI releases on 19 November 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
How many times has GTA 6 been delayed?#
Twice. From Fall 2025 to 26 May 2026 (announced 2 May 2025), and from May 2026 to 19 November 2026 (announced 6 November 2025).
Is GTA 6 coming to PC?#
Rockstar has not announced a PC version. Based on GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2, a PC release would most likely arrive in 2027 or later.
When can I pre-load GTA 6?#
Digital pre-orders can pre-load from 12 November 2026, one week before the 19 November launch.
Sources
Every claim on this page traces back to one of the following. Rockstar Games newswire posts and the official Extended Look are treated as primary; everything else is labelled in-line.