What everyone had been expecting, but no one wanted to fully believe, has finally happened: Grand Theft Auto VI has been delayed again. This time, to November 19, 2026, meaning we have to wait another whole year. GTA VI is a behemoth, influencing the entire gaming industry, and immediately after this news, a real storm erupted online: the impact of layoffs, the mood within the studio, and criticism from other publishers. Let’s look at the timeline of the scandal, because who knows—perhaps this isn’t the last delay?
Another Delay: Rockstar vs. AI
The delay occurred on November 6th. According to Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar’s parent company, this was done to further polish the project: “We apologize for the delay to an already long wait, but these additional months will allow us to finish the game to the level of quality you expect and deserve . “
And overall, it makes sense—given the level of quality Rockstar is aiming for, I can completely understand why they need more time. Creating such graphics and optimizing the game within the technical capabilities of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series is a nearly impossible task, and it requires as much time as possible. If they succeed—and given the developers’ reputation, it’s plausible—it will be a true revolution in the gaming industry, just like all the GTA games before it.
Moreover, shortly before the delay, Strauss Zelnick, the head of Take-Two, suddenly declared that he did not believe in the imminent dominance of artificial intelligence: “AI will not be able to create a game like GTA. AI is effective for many tasks, but it is not capable of creating a masterpiece . “
When first seeing this news, one might be quite surprised: “Could it be that the most reasonable boss of a major publishing house is one of the most (if not the most) greedy?” However, if Rockstars truly doesn’t rely on neural networks as much as others do, then it’s entirely justified—manual development is still far superior to AI in quality. I think many would agree that it’s better to wait an extra six months than to relive the experience of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition upon release.
Rockstar vs. IWGB: Is this the last delay?
But is this really true? And is this the last delay? The release date was pushed back immediately after several dozen employees were laid off—all of them experienced workers: lead artists, animators, testers, designers, programmers, and producers. Many had worked at Rockstar for over 18 years.
The dismissed employees are united by the fact that they were all members of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB), a trade union with which Rockstar had a dispute: they were all members of the IWGB Game Workers Union Discord channel. The company accused the dismissed workers of leaking data: “These individuals shared and discussed confidential information on a public forum, which violates company rules. The decision has no bearing on their right to join a trade union or participate in its activities . “
On the one hand, after the massive hacker attack on Rockstar and the information leak in September 2022, even before GTA VI’s official announcement, it’s no wonder Take-Two and Rockstar are so concerned about preserving their internal secrets, especially when it comes to such a major project. Around 90 gameplay videos from the pre-alpha version of the game leaked online.
On the other hand, the studio’s bosses openly disregarded the employees and their rights, simply firing “violators” without any formal charges, leading to protests outside the offices of Rockstar and Take-Two. The IWGB accused Rockstar of the most egregious act of union-busting in the history of the gaming industry. The union claims this is deliberate “terrorism” of union activists.
IWGB management countered Rockstar’s statement: “The studio fears that hardworking employees will privately discuss advocacy for fairer working conditions and a collective voice .” They accused Rockstar of undermining union activity.
The IWGB is one of the key trade unions in the British games industry, fighting for workers’ rights, including against unpaid overtime and discrimination. Given that such issues are essential to the studio’s game development, it’s no wonder Take-Two and Rockstar reacted this way to any interaction between their workers and the union.
However, according to journalist Jason Schreyer, the delay is unrelated to these layoffs and is more related to financial reports to investors: “The delay is not related to last Thursday’s layoffs. Although these layoffs could certainly have long-term consequences for the project and lead to further delays in the future . “
This “coincidence” has had a profound impact on the morale of the Rockstar North developers: “Those of us who are lucky enough to be left behind are working in fear! Fear of talking to each other over a cup of tea, fear of being next in line and easily disposed of, fear of leaving the studio and talking (or even confessing) to our colleagues protesting outside for fear of reprisals . “
All of this will significantly impact the workflow in any case: those who remain will work significantly slower and invest less in the process, which will impact the final quality—why work hard today if you might end up out of work tomorrow? It’s easy to understand. And those who were fired will be difficult to replace—they were experienced people who not only knew their craft but also the inner workings of Rockstar. And since they also held leadership positions, they could offset or amplify the strengths and weaknesses of their subordinates. Even if the studio’s bosses manage to quickly find replacements—which is no easy feat—it will take a long time before they can reach their previous level of productivity on the project. Time that may once again be in short supply.
Strauss Zelnik’s excuses
In this regard, it is funny to see messages from Strauss Zelnick, who promised that this delay would be the last: “We wanted to give Rockstar enough time to polish the game and make it as high-quality as possible . ”
Clearly, the developers were once again hampered by managers who don’t understand the intricacies of the creative process and don’t care about it. And Zelnik’s words are generally difficult to take seriously: he’s far removed from the world of gaming, even though he holds a senior position at one of the largest gaming publishers. It’s enough to recall his claim that in the aforementioned botched re-release of the GTA trilogy, “only one bug was found, which was quickly fixed.”
In that case, Take-Two’s boss’s apparent disbelief in AI may be nothing more than an attempt to cover his bases before GTA VI’s delay: if we don’t rely on AI and prefer to develop everything ourselves, then it’s no wonder we need more time. The logic is sound.
But Zelnik was already “confident” in the previous dates—first in the fall of 2025, then in the spring of 2026—which didn’t save the game from delays. He’s quite good at trolling competitors, however: “Games that have more time to polish demonstrate how well that time was used. Meanwhile, competing companies that release projects before they’re ready face “setbacks . “
But delaying a release doesn’t always mean a game will be better developed—more often than not, it simply falls victim to publishers and managers, landing in development hell. And when it’s released, its state evokes nothing but tears and anger from players—though I don’t think that’s the case with GTA 6.
However, delaying Grand Theft Auto VI’s release for too long is unprofitable and even dangerous. Immediately after the delay was announced, Take-Two Interactive shares fell 9%: that’s how much influence this project has on the corporation! It won’t have much of an impact right now—the stock price will quickly recover, and once they release another trailer for the game, it will soar even higher than before. But if they delay the game another time or two, the result will be… Spectacular.
The transfer hit everyone
Other developers and publishers are also in dire straits—competition with GTA VI is a feared threat. We’re currently witnessing a veritable game of catch-up: various publishers are trying to push their release dates as far as possible from an unbeatable competitor. Meanwhile, Take-Two and Rockstar are constantly nipping at their heels, repeatedly delaying GTA’s release, thus causing more and more gray hairs among other game developers.
This has even become a source of jokes online. For example, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra was delayed indefinitely almost immediately after Grand Theft Auto VI was delayed for exactly the same reasons: “To meet the level of quality expected by our team, players, and fans.” GTA VI, like a black hole, dragged other projects down with it.
The exception was publisher Devolver Digital, which “declared war” on Rockstar and announced it wanted to release its game on the same day as GTA VI—the exact project remains unknown. Perhaps this is just another joke, or perhaps a sophisticated PR stunt. Either way, it sounds fun and unusual.
Players aren’t having it either: some fans are even postponing their own wedding dates, just to avoid getting married at the same time as the long-awaited game’s release and still be able to play it. Brides unfamiliar with the GTA hype won’t be too happy about this, obviously.
Many hard-working players often plan to take vacations around such releases for precisely the same reason—to play the long-awaited game in peace. And delays always put these players, at a minimum, in an awkward position at work, and at worst, cause problems with management. After all, a GTA VI delay isn’t grounds for rescheduling vacations already approved for the next work year.
Even Polish authorities reacted to the postponement. Witold Tumanowicz, a member of parliament from the KWiN (Confederation of Freedom and Independence) party, stated: “In my parliamentary statement, I wanted to share some very disturbing news: Rockstar Games has announced that the release of GTA VI has been postponed. This is a huge scandal. Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if people take to the streets to protest.” Clearly, these are just the words of one person, but if they are being spoken by someone in such a position, then the uproar surrounding the postponement is clearly more serious than might initially appear.
Analysis
This entire situation has transcended the traditional boundaries of the gaming industry. Grand Theft Auto VI is the largest game project in recent years, its impact extending far beyond the industry itself. Rockstar is literally influencing the lives of ordinary people! Furthermore, the conflict between developers, publishers, and trade unions has gone beyond a simple dispute. Who knows what consequences this will have for the studio—and, most importantly, their games?
At the very least, another delay is entirely possible—due to the reshuffle within Rockstar, the pace of development has suffered anyway. Strauss Zelnick’s statements are untrustworthy—he’ll say anything to sweeten the deal with investors. That’s just his job. We won’t learn the real state of affairs within the studio from him, and given the quality they’re aiming for and their usual work style, there could be even more problems than we could ever imagine.
