Rockstar Games has officially delayed GTA 6 by another year. However, the surprise announcement drew criticism from some fans, who were angry at the developer for continually promising its release would be in 2025. Looking at Rockstar’s history, though, last-minute delays seem to be par for the course.

‘GTA 6’ DElay “Painful” for fans

Rockstar Games broke the news this morning that GTA 6 now has a release date of May 26, 2026. According to the developer, the reason for GTA VI’s new launch date has to do with “exceeding the expectations” that players have of the game. Basically, the hype for the next Grand Theft Auto was apparently so high that Rockstar wants the game to live up to the incredible expectations fans have placed on it.

The new GTA 6 release date announcement was met with mixed reactions from fans. On social media, the delay immediately started to trend worldwide just minutes after Rockstar made the post. While some players were supportive of the team’s need for more development time, others were angry that the developer had continually confirmed that the game was coming in 2025. With Rockstar Games’ marketing strategy of keeping players in the dark, the delay announcement seemingly took many by surprise.

On social media, players vented their frustrations at GTA 6’s marketing. “If you’re going to delay it, at least give us some screenshots. The marketing strategy may be working for you, but it’s painful for the fans,” one user wrote. Another exclaimed, “Rockstar Games, you guys are taking all the hype away from this game. Now that you’ve confirmed a 2025 release three times already, we’re even more disappointed. Really bad decision-making.” Many fans were just in disbelief, pointing out that Rockstar has already had ten years to develop GTA 6.

Delays Are good, but ‘Gta 6’ marketing has kind of aged poorly

Look, I’ll just straight up say it — video game delays are always a good thing. If a team needs more time, they should have more time. While it sucks to wait longer, it’s ultimately better for consumers to get a truly polished game. The recent success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is proof of how much it matters for a game to launch in a high-quality state. That’s why I was a big supporter of the Lost Soul Aside delay. So, on paper, GTA 6 being delayed isn’t a bad thing.

However, the issue players have with the GTA 6 delay is Rockstar Games’ marketing strategy. In the past, the studio’s habit of not announcing or releasing any information about its games until the last second actually worked. It built hype for their projects — and it was just cool. The problem is, when you’re this vague and wait until the last minute to delay a much-anticipated game, some fans feel like they were misled. In the case of GTA 6, Rockstar continually told people not to worry because the game was “definitely coming in 2025.”

the people vs. ‘grand theft auto 6’

So, by the time we reached the halfway point of the year, people just assumed GTA 6 would be releasing within the next five months. After all, the lack of new screenshots and trailers is part of Rockstar Games’ marketing formula. In that sense, you can understand why some players are angry. And the thing is, this isn’t the first time Rockstar has done this. Back in 2017, they waited until the last minute to delay Red Dead Redemption 2 by another year. Granted, RDR2 has, in my opinion, become one of the best games of all time. And that’s the good news. I mean, if GTA 6 already looked amazing, imagine what it will be like with another year of development.

Still, I think it’s time we reassess whether Rockstar Games’ marketing strategy is actually a good one. I get that development is complex and timelines can shift dramatically. But if you’re going to keep fans in the dark, maybe don’t continually promise a release window. And for the love of all things, stop waiting until the last second to delay games. It’s cruel to make your community believe they’re only a few months away from a major launch, only to yank it away for another year. It was just last month that Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick touted GTA 6’s strategy as important to “maintain anticipation and excitement relatively close to the release window.” However, I can’t help but think it’s this strategy that has made the GTA 6 delay feel so frustrating for fans.