Rockstar Games has finally, at a great cost to their own reputation, given gamers a release date that is very clear and certain to be the official one. Grand Theft Auto VI, the most sophisticated crime-based game ever created will be launched on November 19, 2026, that is exactly a year from now. The Game Awards broke the news, a moment that was supposed to usher in pure whining for the most awaited game ever. But, instead of a universal celebration, the gamers’ community reaction has been, to put it mildly, complex. The vast majority of the gamers simply do not believe it.
The Game Awards tweeted: “Grand Theft Auto 6 will launch on November 19, 2026, and its just one year away,” the text being both short and straightforward. One would think that it wouldn’t take more than this to cause an internet frenzy of happy users, right? Wrong. The area of replies immediately became a cemetery of irony and scepticism. It is as if everybody took a collective decision stating that “the news has been received many times.”
An extremely popular post from a user called Hams rather humorously sums up the sentiment: “One more year of draining money from each and every player on gta5 online… How come you haven’t noticed it has been going for TWELVE YEARS?” That’s a tough one. It is actually true. The online game of GTA V has been a big contributor to Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive’s revenues for over a decade. It makes one think what the actual reason for launching the new game when the existing one is still earning billions is. It is a good point that many gamers are making.
As well as this, there is the delay subject that keeps coming up. Oh my god, delay talk is like fire, it’s everywhere. User after user is foretelling another pushback. “Delayed, then delayed, then delayed,” one user wrote, their spelling getting worse as if they were trying to reveal their complete tiredness. Another poster, Shy Guy, put it in a very unambiguous manner: “Until that day and they put 2027 at the end.” It’s not one or two people only; it’s a chorus. “Until it’s fucking delayed again,” Jim said, probably while sipping a coffee and looking not even a bit surprised. The non-existence of trust is extremely strong, and frankly, can you fault them? The game development had been constantly subjected to rumors and supposed internal delays for years.
Some gamers have already started mocking the situation, saying that GTA 6 will be a next-gen title… for the consoles that are not even being made yet. “Gta6 will release on next Gen console that is Playstation 6 and Xbox Magnus,” JaMerv quipped. Gamer_Velma quipped, “Best release for PS6.” It is a comical yet somewhat painful prediction that the goalposts may be shifted. The entire community expects it on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, but what if… nah, they wouldn’t do that, right? Right??
While the uncertainty lies, there are still a few optimistic voices trying to get through the noise. User Aliu Ogundare added his excitement: “One more year until the whole internet forgets peace and sleep. GTA VI is going to reset the timeline once again.” That is the kind of feeling that we already got when the first trailer was released. The game has the potential to completely eclipse the cultural discourse. But that silver lining is continually getting snuffed by the dark clouds of long waiting and those who think of it as greed on the part of the company.
The idea that Rockstar is only fooling the public and draining the last money drops from the GTA Online milk cow is widespread. User Phoenix R. ranted: “1 year until they milk gamers for another 15 years! Remember the 3 expansions everyone was denied because GTA Online was making too much money! Who are we kidding, its not coming out in a year, lmao.” This refers to one of the major grievances within the community—the widespread belief that the single-player DLC for GTA V that was planned got canceled simply because the online mode was too profitable. That history makes it hard for players now to believe the company’s timeline.
Then it’s the dilemma for the PC users. “Maybe on PC then,” was the hope of ReaPer, a sentiment that many share. Rockstar has a policy of making their major game releases on consoles first, with the PC versions coming much later. For a game of this magnitude, the waiting game is nothing but pure torture for a large chunk of the audience. MatMak’s tweet made the situation even worse: “If there hadn’t been two six-month delays, we would have now received GTA VI on PC on November 19, 2026.” Depending on the actual facts or simply on speculations, it contributes to the view that the path to release has been difficult.
