On this page
official comes from Rockstar, Take-Two, Sony or Microsoft. reported comes from a credible outlet. rumor is a leak, insider or fan claim. Where a row covers a leak, we describe the event and link to press coverage only; we host nothing. Linked rows go to our full news post, which carries its own sources.
2013 to 2023: the long silence
| Date | Milestone | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Sept 17, 2013 | GTA V launches on PS3 and Xbox 360 and passes $1 billion in retail sales in three days. It goes on to sell more than 230 million copies, and GTA Online becomes the business that funds the next decade. | official |
| Feb 4, 2022 | A Rockstar community update on the Newswire confirms that "active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway." It is the first official acknowledgement. | official |
| July 27, 2022 | Bloomberg's Jason Schreier reports the game is set in a modern-day Vice City, has a Latina protagonist, and will launch with a smaller map that grows over time. | reported |
| Sept 18, 2022 | The first breach: about 90 videos of an early development build are posted to GTAForums. The next day Rockstar confirms a network intrusion and says it expects no disruption to live services and no long-term effect on development. See GTA 6 leaks. | official |
| Dec 4, 2023 | Trailer 1 leaks about 15 hours before its planned December 5 slot, so Rockstar posts it early. The window is "Coming 2025." Variety reports more than 93 million YouTube views in 24 hours. | official |
| Dec 21, 2023 | Southwark Crown Court gives Lapsus$ member Arion Kurtaj, 18, an indefinite hospital order. A jury had found in August 2023 that he carried out the 2022 breach. | reported |
2024 to 2025: the window narrows, then moves
| Date | Milestone | Status |
|---|---|---|
| May 16, 2024 | Take-Two narrows the release window to "fall of calendar 2025" on its fiscal Q4 earnings call. | official |
| May 2, 2025 | First delay. Rockstar sets a new date of Tuesday, May 26, 2026, saying the extra time is needed to deliver "the level of quality you expect and deserve." Both delays are covered in every GTA 6 delay. | official |
| May 6, 2025 | Trailer 2 releases with the redesigned official site, eight character bios, six named regions and the first sets of official screenshots. Rockstar reports 475 million views across platforms in 24 hours. | official |
| Nov 6, 2025 | Second delay. The date moves to Thursday, November 19, 2026. Rockstar apologizes "for adding additional time to what we realize has been a long wait." | official |
| Nov 2025 | At the Golden Joystick Awards, Trailer 2 wins Best Game Trailer and GTA 6 wins Most Wanted Game. | reported |
2026: pre-orders, previews and the leaks
| Date | Milestone | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 3, 2026 | Take-Two's fiscal Q3 2026 earnings release points to "the highly anticipated launch of Grand Theft Auto VI on November 19th." | official |
| May 21, 2026 | Take-Two reaffirms November 19 on its fiscal Q4 2026 earnings call. | official |
| June 18, 2026 | Rockstar announces on the Newswire that pre-orders begin June 25. | official |
| June 24, 2026 | Prices and editions announced: Standard $79.99, Ultimate $99.99, a $20 upgrade path, the Vintage Vice City Pack pre-order bonus, and a physical edition that holds a download code instead of a disc. | official |
| June 25, 2026 | Pre-orders open at midnight local time on PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, the Rockstar Store and retailers. Digital pre-orders on both PlayStation Store and Microsoft Store include one free month of GTA+. | official |
| July 2026 | Hands-off previews at Rockstar North in Edinburgh, with Rob Nelson playing. Sessions run from 30 minutes to about 2.5 hours depending on outlet; IGN, TGG, The New York Times and El Rubius attend. Coverage is embargoed until August 27. | reported |
| July 2026 | BBC cyber correspondent Joe Tidy reports that Arion Kurtaj has left the secure hospital, is being held in prison, and faces a criminal retrial scheduled for November 2026. | reported |
| Aug 6, 2026 | Rockstar announces that "An Extended Look" will premiere on Netflix on August 27. | official |
| Aug 7, 2026 | Take-Two fiscal Q1 2027 earnings: $1.39 billion in net bookings, November 19 reaffirmed, fiscal-year guidance of $8.0 to $8.2 billion kept. Strauss Zelnick calls pre-orders "unprecedented and astonishing" without giving a number. | official |
| Aug 18, 2026 | The second breach: a group calling itself CYBERLEEK starts posting gameplay clips and a purported Leonida map, with more clips through the week. Take-Two files DMCA takedowns and starts subpoena proceedings targeting Microsoft (GitHub) and Discord. How old the build is has not been established: community analysis dates it to roughly 2023 to early 2025, which is a rumor, and Rockstar has not said. | reported |
| Aug 18, 2026 | Rockstar Support's "Grand Theft Auto VI Platforms, Editions, and Versions" article, last updated this day, says a physical version of the Ultimate Edition is not available: the Ultimate Edition is digital-only. Owners of the boxed Standard Edition can buy the Ultimate Edition Upgrade on the PlayStation or Microsoft store once their code has been used. | official |
| Aug 26, 2026 | Rockstar says on Instagram that the leaks are "heartbreaking for our team" and that the game is "nearly there," and says it hopes everyone will wait to experience the game on November 19. It does not ask fans to stop sharing the clips. | official |
| Aug 26, 2026 | Dazed's interviews with Rob Nelson and Rupert Humphries, Rockstar's senior vice president of narrative, are out: Humphries calls it "a Bonnie and Clyde-type narrative," and the feature's writer, Thom Waite, describes switching between Jason and Lucia on the road. GameSpot cited the piece on August 26 and VGC on August 27; Dazed's page now carries a September 6 date. | reported |
| Aug 27, 2026 | "An Extended Look," 26 minutes 48 seconds of PS5 gameplay, premieres on Netflix at 3 PM ET and on YouTube at 9 PM ET, and Rockstar publishes a new batch of screenshots with it. The preview embargo lifts the same afternoon. | official |
| Aug 27, 2026 | The Extended Look draws 31.1 million Netflix views in four days, via Variety and Engadget. Kotaku relays YouTuber Davy Jones's account that Rob Nelson told visitors the consoles ran the game at 30 fps during development. | reported |
| Aug 28, 2026 | Famitsu interviews Rob Nelson, co-studio head at Rockstar North. He says "it will definitely be released (laughs)," describes a chapter-based story, and names the Leonida Keys as the starting area. | reported |
September 2026: the final run-in
| Date | Milestone | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Sept 3, 2026 | Sony reveals two Limited Edition GTA VI DualSense controllers at $84.99, out November 19. Pre-orders open September 10. | official |
| Sept 3, 2026 | Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz and Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez oppose a proposed county marketing partnership with Rockstar, and Chief Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan asks for courthouses to be left out (NBC 6). Ideas floated for the campaign included a temporary "Vice City Airport" at MIA and a wrapped Metromover. Background in our Kaseya Center sign report. | reported |
| Sept 10, 2026 | A Rockstar filing in the IWGB employment tribunal, heard at the Glasgow Tribunal Centre, refers to "an online 32 player format." The IWGB says the final hearing runs from September 10 until at least October 15. | reported |
| Sept 10, 2026 | The Miami Beach City Commission votes 4–3 on a Rockstar deal worth up to about $4 million for "Vice City" branding on beach chairs and umbrellas. Reports differ on what the vote did: GTA BOOM says it lets the city manager negotiate, while Miami New Times described it as approving an agreement with Rockstar's marketing firm. No signed deal has been reported. | reported |
| Sept 10, 2026 | Rockstar's official mod guidelines page carries this date; press picks it up September 19 to 22. The rules: no story mods, no cross-title mashups, no unofficial ports, multiplayer mods only through the Creator Platform, and no paid mods outside it. What that means for a future PC version is on GTA 6 mods. | official |
| Sept 11, 2026 | Piper Sandler raises its launch-window forecast to 48.3 million units, citing r/GTA6 traffic that rose from about 700,000 to 2.7 million weekly visitors since mid-August. | reported |
| Sept 14, 2026 | Stephen Root tells the Associated Press he is in the game; Kotaku and Vice report the role as Brian Heder. Fans had already recognized his voice in the Extended Look. | reported |
| Sept 17, 2026 | At Take-Two's annual meeting, Strauss Zelnick says GTA 6 launches single-player only on two platforms on November 19. Rockstar announces "Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album," 34 original tracks via Atlantic Records, out November 19. | official |
| Sept 17, 2026 | The album's limited vinyl sells out in the UK and Europe in under an hour. | reported |
| Sept 17, 2026 | At a GamesBeat event, Zelnick says the Extended Look had "an element of tutorial baked in," a way to show people how the game plays before they buy it. | reported |
| Sept 17–21, 2026 | Sony's Tokyo Game Show booth runs an Extended Look theater on a 300-inch screen with floor haptics, across the show's September 17–18 business days and September 19–21 public days. Viewers get a free GTA VI PlayStation T-shirt. No new footage is shown. | official |
| Sept 18, 2026 | At about 1:30 AM, during Miami-Dade's overnight budget hearing, the mayor's office discloses a deal worth close to $1 million from Rockstar (about $975,000, per DesignRush citing IGN) for a sign on the Kaseya Center. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava signed it under her authority for contracts under $1 million, and several commissioners object. | reported |
| Sept 18, 2026 | A roughly 192 GB archive from the 2022 breach circulates. It is mostly cut GTA V content, plus early, low-quality GTA 6 map renders. | reported |
| Sept 20, 2026 | Dexerto relays a report from the fan account GTA VI O'Clock that Rockstar emailed performers reminding them their NDAs run until November 19. | reported |
| Sept 21, 2026 | O2 launches a UK pre-order finance plan: £20 up front, then £1.39 a month for 36 months at 0% APR, £70.04 in total, subject to credit checks. It is O2's offer; Rockstar has not commented. | reported |
| Sept 21, 2026 | IGN reports that Take-Two is taking down YouTube videos and posts that show material from the 192 GB archive or play its audio, and that creators who post it risk copyright strikes. IGN calls the effort less aggressive than Take-Two's crackdown on the GTA 6 leaks. | reported |
| Sept 22, 2026 | A helicopter lifts a "Welcome to Vice City" sign onto the roof of Miami's Kaseya Center, home of the Heat. Rockstar has made no public statement. | reported |
| Sept 22, 2026 | Take-Two's SEC filing on the annual meeting shows all 10 directors re-elected, Zelnick with 139,267,251 votes for and 4,588,247 against. It contains no GTA 6 news. | official |
| Sept 22, 2026 | Spotify figures show the six album singles drew 4.1 million streams in their first 24 hours, after a billboard campaign in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London and Mexico City. | reported |
| Sept 23, 2026 | PlayStation Store listings, checked this day, show per-region unlock times: midnight in each store region's main time zone. That is 05:00 UTC on November 19 (midnight ET) for the US and Canada, 00:00 UTC for the UK and 13:00 UTC on November 18 for Australia. Xbox has not listed a time. The full list is on GTA 6 release time. | official |
| Sept 24, 2026 | Hours before Rockstar's announcement, a list of upcoming Rockstar Store merchandise, including the Vice City Collection, surfaces from a store datamine; Insider Gaming and others report it. The items Rockstar has not announced are unconfirmed. | rumor |
| Sept 24, 2026 | Rockstar announces The Goodtime State - Vice City Collection, a $399.99 Collector's Box of 11 merchandise items sold on the Rockstar Store, one per person, while supplies last. The game is not included, and there is still no Collector's Edition of the game. It ships to 23 countries starting November 19. | official |
| Sept 24, 2026 | The Verge's Tom Warren reports that Xbox sources say GTA 6 pre-orders skew heavily to PS5. Xbox Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball replies on X that Xbox's share of pre-orders matches its share of the console market and that the game is breaking Xbox records. Nobody gives numbers. | reported |
| Sept 25, 2026 | Game Informer reveals GTA VI as the cover of issue 382: a 14-page story with 12 new exclusive screenshots, Rockstar cover art of Jason and Lucia, and interviews with several lead designers. The digital issue is due September 29; print follows in the coming weeks. | reported |
| Sept 25, 2026 | The Golden Joystick Awards announce their 2026 nominees. GTA VI is not in any category announced so far, while GTA Online is nominated in Still Playing (PC and Console). Push Square reports that nominations closed on August 28 and that GTA 6 becomes eligible in 2027. The Ultimate Game of the Year shortlist follows on October 26. | reported |
| Sept 28, 2026 (11:00 AEST; 9 PM ET on Sept 27) | EB Games opens Australian pre-orders for the Collector's Box at A$699.95 with a A$100 deposit, one per customer, and its listing reads "Presold Out" the same day. Press Start reports it sold out almost instantly and that JB Hi-Fi will run a ballot for Perks members. Rockstar has named no Australian retailer; its Newswire still says details for Asia, Latin America and Australia are coming. | reported |
| Sept 28, 2026 | The official US album store lists the $124.98 limited-edition vinyl of GTA VI: The Album as sold out (it sold out in the UK and Europe on September 17). | official |
What is scheduled
| Date | Milestone | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Sept 29, 2026 | Game Informer's digital issue 382 goes live with the 14-page GTA VI cover story and 12 new screenshots. Outlets that read it report Rockstar reworked the weather system to be more localized and persistent, with hurricanes and tropical storms. Print copies follow in the coming weeks. It is a magazine feature, not a trailer. | reported |
| Oct 15, 2026 | The earliest end date for the IWGB tribunal's final hearing at the Glasgow Tribunal Centre; the IWGB lists it as running until at least October 15. | reported |
| Nov 9, 2026 | Last day to cancel a Microsoft Store pre-order from your order history; after that you have to request a refund. See how to cancel and refund a pre-order. | official |
| Nov 11, 2026 | The Golden Joystick Awards ceremony, eight days before launch. GTA VI is not nominated in any category announced so far; GTA Online is up for Still Playing (PC and Console). | reported |
| Nov 12, 2026 | Pre-load opens, and boxed code-in-box copies become available for shipping and pickup from retailers. See how to pre-load GTA 6. Starting the pre-load, or letting it auto-download, ends PlayStation Store pre-order refunds, so cancel before it starts. With Auto-Download on, November 10 is the safest last day, since a US pre-load may open at 9 PM PT on November 11 (our reading). | official |
| Nov 2026 | Arion Kurtaj's criminal retrial is scheduled to take place. | reported |
| Nov 18–19, 2026 | The game unlocks at midnight in each PlayStation Store region's main time zone, so the first regions start on November 18 in UTC: New Zealand at 11:00 UTC and Australia at 13:00 UTC. The UK follows at 00:00 UTC on November 19, and the US and Canada at 05:00 UTC (midnight ET, 9 PM PT on November 18). Xbox has not listed a time. See the PS5 unlock times. | official |
| Nov 19, 2026 | Launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The Album and the Limited Edition DualSense controllers release the same day. It is also the last day to buy with the Vintage Vice City Pack. Unlock times are on GTA 6 release time. | official |
| Nov 19, 2026 | Rockstar's $399.99 Collector's Box, the Vice City Collection, starts shipping from the Rockstar Store to 23 countries. The game is sold separately; the Rockstar Store's boxed copy of the game ships earlier, from November 12, to a different list of 20 countries. | official |
| Dec 10, 2026 | The Game Awards. Its FAQ says the 2026 eligibility dates will be announced in fall 2026, so whether a November 19 release qualifies is not known yet (checked September 28). | not announced |
| Mar 31, 2027 | Last day to redeem the free GTA+ month from a PlayStation digital pre-order. | official |
| Not announced | Launch trailer, review embargo, ESRB and PEGI ratings, file size, PC version, online mode reveal, Xbox unlock time. | not announced |
For both delays in detail and what Rockstar said each time, read the GTA 6 release date page. For the leaks in this table and our policy on them, read GTA 6 leaks explained. New milestones appear in GTA 6 news as they happen.
Frequently asked questions
When was GTA 6 first announced?
Rockstar confirmed on February 4, 2022 that the next Grand Theft Auto was in active development. The first trailer followed on December 4, 2023, with a "Coming 2025" window that later moved twice.
How many times has GTA 6 been delayed?
Twice. On May 2, 2025 it moved from fall 2025 to May 26, 2026. On November 6, 2025 it moved again to November 19, 2026. Take-Two has reaffirmed the November date on every earnings call since and at its September 17, 2026 annual meeting.
How many times has GTA 6 leaked?
There have been two breaches: the September 2022 hack and the CYBERLEEK clips in August 2026. Trailer 1 also leaked about 15 hours early in December 2023, and a 192 GB archive of 2022 data circulated in September 2026.
What is the gap between GTA 5 and GTA 6?
Thirteen years and two months. GTA V released on September 17, 2013, and GTA 6 releases on November 19, 2026, by far the longest gap between mainline entries in the series.
What is still to come before launch?
The IWGB tribunal hearing is listed to run until at least October 15. November 9 is the last day to cancel a Microsoft Store pre-order. The Golden Joystick Awards follow on November 11; the organizers have not nominated GTA VI in any category announced so far. Pre-load opens and the boxed code-in-box copies become available on November 12, and the game launches on November 19. That is also the last day to buy with the Vintage Vice City Pack and the day Rockstar's $399.99 Collector's Box starts shipping. A launch trailer, age ratings, file size and an online reveal are not announced.
What changed on this page
- Added what Game Informer's September 29 cover story reports about weather: a reworked, more localized system with hurricanes and tropical storms.
- Added September 28: EB Games Australia's Collector's Box pre-orders, which its listing showed as Presold Out the same day, and the US album store listing the limited vinyl as sold out. Added the Golden Joystick nominees (no GTA VI so far) and put the November 11 Golden Joysticks and the December 10 Game Awards on the schedule.
- Added September 21 to 25: the takedowns of the 192 GB archive material, Rockstar's $399.99 Collector's Box and the store datamine before it, the Xbox pre-order exchange and Game Informer's cover story. The schedule now lists the September 29 Game Informer issue, the November 18 to 19 unlocks and the Collector's Box shipping on November 19.
- Added Rockstar Support's August 18 confirmation that the Ultimate Edition is digital-only and the PlayStation Store unlock times checked on September 23, credited the on-the-road switching line to Dazed's writer rather than Rob Nelson, moved the Dazed feature to August 26, when GameSpot first cited it, and gave November 10 as the safest last day to cancel with Auto-Download on.
- Added the September 2026 events and the pre-order cancellation deadlines, and corrected several details, including the tribunal venue and end date, the Golden Joystick category, the mod guidelines date and the CYBERLEEK build age.