Take-Two Interactive Software has postponed the release of Grand Theft Auto VI for next year, giving the team more time to finalize what is expected to be one of the most lucrative video games of all time. The company’s shares had the largest drop in two and a half years.
The title, which has already lost several deadlines ,. Now, according to Take-Two statement on Friday, the game will only hit the market on May 26, 2026.
“We give Rockstar Games full support for taking more time to perform its creative vision for Grand Theft Auto VI, which promises to be an innovative and successful entertainment experience, exceeding public expectations,” said CEO Strauss Zelnick.
“Although we seriously take the schedule of our titles and appreciate the vast and deep global expectation for Grand Theft Auto VI, we remain firm in our commitment to excellence.”
The shares fell up to 10%to $ 211, at the opening of the market in New York, the largest drop since November 2022.
A lot is at stake for Take-Two with the release of the game, as the franchise represents a significant part of the company’s general revenue. Grand Theft Auto V has sold about 210 million units, becoming the second best-selling game of all time, behind Microsoft Minecraft. Since its launch, the franchise has generated about $ 9 billion in revenue, according to a previous estimate of TweakTowna specialized publication.
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Take-Two reiterated on Friday that expects sequential increases and “record levels” of net reserves in the 2026 and 2027 tax years. Although Grand Theft Auto VI delay is a setback, Take-TWO has other titles scheduled for the current fiscal year, including Borderlands 4 and Mafia: The Old Country, which should be big releases as well.
When Grand Theft Auto VI is released, “it will easily give 50% profit,” said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. “People are reacting negatively, but the delay means that they are generating the same amount of money, only maybe half a year later.”
Rockstar Games, the studio behind success, revealed little about GTA VI, as well as a game trailer at the end of 2023, showing that the game takes place in a fictional version of Miami. THE Bloomberg News He reported that the game will have two characters inspired by the criminal duo Bonnie and Clyde and that the writers have received orders to be less offensive compared to transgender people and other minorities, common targets of jokes in previous versions.
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GTA VI has been developing somehow since 2014, but it only actually started after Rockstar’s last major release, Red Dead Redemption II, in 2018. This project was extremely laborious, demanding overtime and leading the team to the limit, according to Bloomberg.
Seeking to improve its work culture, the company fired several executives and promised a more reasonable schedule. A large hack in 2022, which leaked pre-launch images of development, also complicated the schedule.
There may be several reasons for the problems faced by the game at this time, said Matthew Ball, CEO of Epyllion, an investment consulting firm, such as “game polishing, more content production for release, or a new release strategy where console and PC are released, or where Rockstar launches GTA VI online mode.”
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