GTA 6 development started "in earnest" in 2020, states Take-Two Interactive: Report

Rockstar Games' parent company, Take-Two Interactive, has put out quite an interesting detail regarding GTA 6's development. The company held its Q4 2025 earnings call today, May 15, 2025, and its CEO, Strauss Zelnick, revealed that the much-anticipated title's development only started "in earnest" in 2020.

This puts it around two years before Rockstar officially announced its development being underway, which came in the form of a tweet in February 2022. During the earnings call, Zelnick stated:

"I believe affording Rockstar additional time for such a groundbreaking project is a worthy investment. Grand Theft Auto VI began development in earnest in 2020 following the massive success of Red Dead Redemption 2, and the title is now the most anticipated entertainment property of all time."

Besides this remark, he also stated that the complexity of GTA 6 is greater than any title that Rockstar has released to date:

"The ambition and complexity of Grand Theft Auto VI is greater than any previous Rockstar title, and the team is poised to release another astonishing entertainment experience that will exceed players’ expectations."

Take-Two Interactive CEO reveals GTA 6 development began properly in 2020

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Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two Interactive CEO, has stated that GTA 6 development kicked off "in earnest" in 2020. This would be a few years after Red Dead Redemption 2 came out on PS4 and Xbox One, and a little bit after its PC port released.

This shouldn't come as a surprise since RDR2 is an incredibly detailed video game, and Rockstar would likely have been able to shift complete focus towards Grand Theft Auto 6 only after finishing the former.

Check out: GTA 5 sales cross a whopping 215+ million copies

However, it should be noted that the statement says development kicked off "in earnest" in 2020, and not that it began from scratch. As per @videotechuk, a former Rockstar Games developer recently stated that he began working on GTA 6 in 2018 after wrapping up on the Red Dead Redemption sequel.

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Also check: GTA 6 pre order date speculation

Therefore, it seems that development on Grand Theft Auto 6 might have started in 2018, but only picked up pace two years later.

The game has now been showcased via two trailers and a bunch of screenshots. It originally targeted a Fall 2025 launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles, but now has a May 26, 2026 release date.

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About the author

Suyash is an Esports and Gaming journalist at Sportskeeda who specializes in Rockstar Games' GTA franchise. Suyash uses in-depth research and knowledge of his immense experience with the game series to ensure readers have access to the most reliable information. His insightful content pieces have raked in more than 5 million views in just a little over a year's time.

Suyash holds a B.Tech degree and ventured into the world of gaming at a young age through the Prince of Persia Sands of Time trilogy. However, upon encountering GTA Vice City’s 1980s aesthetic, music, and vintage cars, he became enamored with the game, leading him to explore the rest of the franchise.

Suyash prefers solo titles to multiplayer, especially ones with a well-crafted story and character arcs. He admires journalist Jason Schreier for the respect he commands in the industry and the reliability of his news pieces. To ensure the accuracy of his own pieces, he checks multiple reputable sources and insiders.

If he were to recommend a game to a skeptic, it would be Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series. When he’s not roaming the streets of Los Santos in GTA V, you can find him playing football, watching movies, or working out.

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Edited by Sijo Samuel Paul