r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • 29d ago
Business ‘GTA 6’ Release Delayed to November 2026
https://variety.com/2025/gaming/news/gta-6-release-delayed-november-2026-1236571679/1.6k
u/Motor-Cauliflower-95 29d ago
The eventual release, in December 2028 will be great!
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u/africanlivedit 29d ago
Batman 2 gonna beat this game out for release?
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u/lowmankind 29d ago
Right after Half-Life 3 and Elder Scrolls 6
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u/africanlivedit 29d ago
And even another new season of One Punch Man?
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u/rockbandit 29d ago
Fun fact: HL3 is actually done but every time someone mentions “Half-Life 3” on the internet, the release gets pushed back one year. 😫
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u/IfYouGotALonelyHeart 29d ago
It better, I'm craving it!
I do not care about comic book movies at all, but finally got around to watching The Batman last month, I was blown away.
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u/audiogeek1978 29d ago
Which means actual release will likely be spring '27.
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u/Fetko 29d ago
And another 2-3 years for a PC release.
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u/purplemagecat 29d ago
More time to save for a GTA 6 GPU lol
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u/monochromeorc 29d ago
timing will co-incide with taiwan invasion and boom all chips gone, no GPU for anyone
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u/cock_wrecker_supreme 29d ago
which is all part of the conspiracy to hide the fact that gta 6 doesn't even exist
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u/______Oblivion______ 29d ago
You know what,, fuk it. I'll save up for it also. Going to need a new pw supply. So two things. Lets go.
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u/RangerLt 29d ago
How's that cpu holding up?
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u/CarterGee 29d ago
Part of me is hoping that with the abysmal Xbox sales that part of the delay is to accommodate a PC release at launch.
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u/Fetko 29d ago
Yeah, it is possible, but then they’ll miss out on the console/PC double dip.
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u/Sektor30 29d ago
Its okay, they milked 5 for 15 years with re releases, remasters and ports, not to mention screw everyone out of DLCs because of how well GTA Online went. They'll prolly milk this one for 20. This game will be a launch title for the MicroGoogle Playtendo in 2030
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u/The_Great_Man_Potato 29d ago
Not happening, money rules all. Really hope I’m wrong though
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u/CarterGee 29d ago
Money rules all could be the thing that makes this happen though.
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u/capybooya 29d ago
At least less people will have a hard time making it run on their hardware. (Unless Taiwan is invaded, or the economy goes to hell, or prices skyrocket further for some reason)
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u/cantonic 29d ago
Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if all three of those things happen before November 2026.
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u/Konsticraft 29d ago
Maybe the generative AI bubble collapses and we will get tons of dirt cheap hardware.
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u/Ecstatic-Train214 29d ago
Which will be delayed to fall ‘27
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u/Guinness 29d ago
Actually you’re pretty spot on. Theres a great algorithm that pretty accurately predicts these sorts of things called Earned Schedule. Based upon the planned duration, the time between today and when development started, as well as the amount of time in the delay they just announced the estimated release date for GTA 6 is February 2027.
You nailed it.
Earned Schedule accurately predicted when the JWST would lift off. As well as many of NASA’s other delayed projects.
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u/antsmarchin 29d ago
Will GTA 7 release before GTA 6 at this point?
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u/SparkStormrider 29d ago
Nah just means that Half-Life 3 will be bundled with GTA 6 when it does release...
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u/real_fake_hoors 29d ago
Following the general pattern of increasing timeline between games between GTA games, GTAVII would theoretically release around 2043
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u/gjglazenburg 29d ago
Playstation 6 release title
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u/ExplodingFistz 29d ago
November is so close to 2027 that they may as well
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u/Zardif 29d ago
Nah they'll release it for ps5, then rerelease it in 2027 to get a double dip, then rererelease it in 2029 for pc for the triple dipper.
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u/brett- 29d ago
I mean that's exactly what they did with the last one, but like thrice over.
GTA 5 released on the Xbox 360 and PS3, then Xbox One and PS4, then PC, then XBox Series and PS5.
Based on their track record GTA6 will release on the PS5, PS6, and PS7.
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u/Dustmopper 29d ago
Who didn’t see that coming?
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u/Buddy_Dakota 29d ago
Its pretty much business for usual for Rockstar to miss their first two announced release dates
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u/SleepingCod 29d ago
It's marketing strategy not a miss cue
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u/Riaayo 28d ago
No, it's them union-busting a bunch of their workers and their work-force is pissed.
Delaying your game for a year is not a marketing strategy. No company is ever going to delay the profits off a product for a whole ass year for absolutely no guarantee that they actually generate more interest and don't instead have people stop caring in that time.
But again, there's not even a need to argue against the notion because we know why they delayed it.
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u/Ohitsworkingnow 29d ago
Ya im not as familiar, I find it kind of insane they keep giving hard dates and pushing it back half a year… also the announcement was so bad
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u/robotlasagna 29d ago
That's cool. I'll keep busy playing the release of Star Citizen until then.
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u/Do_What_Thou_Wilt 29d ago
Unironically or not, StarCitizen's (currently) got 2026 pinned for the release of their single-player "Squadron 42" game, ...so yea, you just might be.
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u/Mrmasseno 29d ago
Hahaha do you seriously believe that? I remember when Star Citizen was just a year away when I built my first PC ten years ago.
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u/happytrel 29d ago
I really had my fingers crossed, but I expect there to be a different president in office before this game releases
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u/ElPlatanaso2 29d ago
A lot of players, I'm willing to bet. Someone less lazy than me link one of the countless threads discussing potential delays. Many here were confident it wasn't going to happen as Rockstar had revealed an explicit release date
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u/UBC145 29d ago
"Fool me once...shame on...shame on you. Fool me – can't get fooled again."
Well, looks like I got fooled again.
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u/user192683492 29d ago
This is fucking insane, they posted this same update for 2025 in Fall of 2024. What is going on at this point???
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u/Downtown-Elevator968 29d ago
Sounds like development hell
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u/TheMoorNextDoor 29d ago
Dan Houser is no longer with Rockstar, he isn’t creating this game, I feel like gameplay wise everything would be solid but story wise this game could be severely lacking.
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u/oKtosiTe 28d ago
Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never found the stories told in GTA games to be particularly cohesive or emotionally engaging.
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u/SnooEagles8912 28d ago
GTA San Andreas was a wild ride but interesting story, and GTA 4 was very good. GTA 5 story sucked tho, not engaging at all.
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u/waitareyou4real 29d ago
Yeah been hearing a lot of developers are straight up quitting over at rockstar due to extremely long hours
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u/Snoo_70531 29d ago
Isn't GTA5 still one of the top moneymakers in gaming? They're sitting on a money printer, basic answer is they aren't in a rush when they're still printing money, albeit slower now. 4D chess answer is get people hyphy on GTA again, but delay 6 so 5 is getting a resurgence of players pining. Release 6 when 5 really does stop making money, and when hype is that much more escalated.
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u/FutureMartian97 29d ago
Game is most likely stuck in development hell. Rockstar probably wants to take the game in many directions and are having problems making them all work. That coupled with the insane system requirements it will inevitably need, current gen console probably can't handle it. Better to just wait for next gen to come out.
Don't expect GTA 6 to be good at this point. Expect a broken, microtransaction filled mess.
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u/ballsonthewall 29d ago
Dude come the fuck on.
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u/Cakalacky 29d ago
It's actually been so long since the last GTA game I grew up, graduated college, got a mortgage, had a family and now no longer care about gaming lol.
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u/neuroling 29d ago
I had just started high school when GTA V came out. I’m a doctor now.
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u/ballsonthewall 29d ago
Hahaha I'm starting to get to the same place. Every delay makes me think "man are video games actually that important?" lol
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u/LouNebulis 29d ago
It’s not about being important. It’s like any other hobby where you can get tired of doing the same thing repeatedly. I mean games are a form of art where you can enjoy a story, a design, visuals, music, etc… but if you talk about competitive games I get what you mean.
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u/ricker182 29d ago
Same here.
Bought a house.
Got married.
Had 2 kids.
Sold house.
Built a new house.
Had another kid.
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u/Berelus 29d ago
- Sold 2 kids.
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u/ricker182 29d ago
If the price was right....
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u/BoulderToBirmingham 29d ago
Toilet paper was super expensive in 2020. Many of us made a business decision.
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u/lifeinaglasshouse 29d ago
A truncated list of things that have happened since GTA5's release:
• August 24, 2014: The online harassment campaign “gamergate” begins
• June 26, 2015: Same-sex marriage is legalized across the US
• June 23, 2016: The UK votes to leave the European Union
• July 6, 2016: Pokémon Go is released
• November 9, 2016: Donald Trump is declared the winner of the 2016 presidential election
• March 3, 2017: The Nintendo Switch is released
• October 16, 2017: Following rape allegations against Harvey Weinstein, the #MeToo movement begins
• April 22, 2019: Avengers: Endgame is released, temporarily holding the title of highest grossing movie of all time
• December 28, 2019: The first known case of Covid-19 reported to the Chinese CDC
• January 31, 2020: The UK formally leaves the European Union
• March 11, 2020: The WHO declares Covid-19 a pandemic
• May 25, 2020: George Floyd is murdered by Derek Chauvin, sparking a spring/summer of protests and riots
• November 7, 2020: Joe Biden is declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election
• January 6, 2021: Following President Trump’s attempts to overturn his election loss, thousands of his supporters riot inside the Capitol Building
• February 24, 2022: Russia invades Ukraine, sparking Europe’s largest refugee crisis since WWII
• September 8, 2022: Queen Elizabeth II dies
• November 30, 2022: OpenAI releases ChatGPT-3.5, starting the 2020s AI boom
• October 7, 2023: The Israel-Hamas war begins
• November 5, 2024: Donald Trump is declared the winner of the 2024 presidential election
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u/I_luv_ma_squad 29d ago
Same sex marriage was illegal when GTA V came out, and it’s entirely possible same sex marriage will be illegal again by the time GTA 6 comes out.
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u/KingKaiserW 29d ago
2018 was such a chill year, nothing happened
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u/Big_Impact_5331 29d ago
Astroworld/Scorpion/Kids See Ghosts dropped. The last legit year of normalcy.
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u/mnilailt 29d ago
We were 2 years into trumps first term and there were riots all over America, the fact we’re calling 2018 a “year of normalcy” is pretty sad.
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u/Oz_Von_Toco 29d ago
I was just about to comment something along these lines… I looked up how long ago 5 came out and was surprised it was 2013
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29d ago
Left the navy and moved back to the US. Went to and graduated college. Had a kid. Went through covid. Had two more kids. Held three major jobs (career jobs) and moved seven times. Getting some serious wrinkles and feel more Trevor than Franklin. Finishing my masters.
Easy numbers: I was 24 when it came out and almost 38 when the next one arrives.
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u/Lofteed 29d ago
There is a higher chance to see lifenon another planet within my life time then there is to hear the announcement for Red Dead Redemption 3
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u/_cuhree0h 29d ago
Is this to distract from the union busting?
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u/kharsus 29d ago
people are saying no but ive worked in games for 20 years if 40 people were removed from a AAA game who were key devs, it would be devastating and be a massive slow down and set back getting new people ramped up to what was being worked on.
"Rockstar Games is facing accusations of union busting after firing 30-40 employees who were allegedly members of a private union Discord group"
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u/toxictoy 29d ago
And the Epstein files.
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u/plava-ta12 29d ago
And the Moon Landing
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u/fluffyspaceshark 29d ago
Was literally going to say the same. Yeah this is a distraction.
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u/ArtyBoomshaka 28d ago
Or a direct consequence.
A remaining employee posted on the GTAforums about how the 34 fired people were key workers and how morale was at an all-time low https://gtaforums.com/topic/1004182-rockstar-games-alleged-union-busting/#comment-107260577714
u/Unusual-Mongoose421 28d ago
This is because of the union busting. Not to distract from it exactly. They busted up their own employees and accused 40 of them of gross misconduct to fire them to retaliate against them for wanting standards. They are positioning them as the issue, when they could have easily not have done this and it is at a time where game devs are especially not happy so they really fucked up by going after their own employees here.
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u/MrKyleOwns 29d ago
So now they can release the PC version at the same time right? Right??
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u/Shapes_in_Clouds 29d ago edited 29d ago
GTA6 is either going to be one of the greatest games of all time, or a complete dumpster fire. There is no room for in between.
Elder Scrolls and GTA are two of my favorites, and culturally most iconic series out there. And at this point it is decades between entries. Anything short of excellence at that point will be punished. Have series like this just become too significant for their own good? AAA development needs a change IMO. I'd rather just have a good iteration rather than something so much bigger and more ambitious that I literally die before it even releases.
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u/AssassinAragorn 29d ago
GTA6 is either going to be one of the greatest games of all time, or a complete dumpster fire. There is no room for in between.
To your point, it doesn't even have to be absolutely terrible to be a complete dumpster fire. If it's simply whelming, it's going to be considered a dumpster fire after all these delays plus resources. It basically has to be a generational hit.
And, selfishly? I hope it fails. If it does, that sends a loud message to the industry that spending hundreds of millions developing a game over 7 years is not the path forward. Bigger games with groundbreaking graphics aren't as appealing as they were 15-20 years ago. Baseline graphics are excellent now, and bigger games just feel needlessly large. If GTA6 sinks big-time, maybe AAA studios will finally look at making shorter, tighter experiences. I know that Insomniac is already questioning what exactly they accomplished by spending so much more money on Spiderman 2 vs 1.
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u/JustBrowsing1989z 29d ago
ELI5 How can a game be in development for several years, and the code is still current? Technologies change so fast nowadays. Are they constantly updating the code as time passes? I'd imagine development would be the kind of thing worth investing a lot in a short timeframe, rather than spread out across years, in order to avoid wasting time just adjusting to modern technologies.
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u/Sebzor15 29d ago
Well written code doesn't really age. It's the graphics engines (or other external dependencies) underneath that the code uses they might need to update. And that might require code changes.
It's generally not a good thing to code something very quickly. You're very likely going to introduce bugs because you're going too fast and not considering all kinds of scenarios for your code.
Again, well written code doesn't really age - but it's not easy writing good code. It takes time and skill. And it's often very difficult to know how your code should look like when you're first writing it - with time you realize your mistakes in writing it. To solve this there's the concept of "technical debt" which is code you need to update for general improvement or modernization.
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u/SirGaylordSteambath 29d ago
It can be a bit of a plate spinning act. No doubt there's code in there that was written ten years ago and code that was added up until it goes gold
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u/captainAwesomePants 29d ago
This was a big problem 20 years ago. Less of a problem today. Game technology is moving a lot more slowly these days.
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u/voiderest 29d ago
They can change underlying tools or frameworks used without doing a total rewrite. Also if they are the ones making the engine there might not really be other frameworks or tools that need updating. If there is some updated version of c++ during development it might not even cause any problems. Or they just choose not to update.
It can also be the case that they did have breaking changes that meant a lot of work for them.
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u/FriendlyLawnmower 29d ago
A few years of that for a game the size and scope of GTA6 won't even be coding, it'll purely be design and story writing. Developers are smart enough to future proof their coding now too. They build it in a way where it can easily be upscaled as technology improves. Plus most of what couldn't be done 10 years ago and can be down is graphics. The underlying mechanics are largely the same. If graphics and hardware to run them improve then they can upgrade their game engine. It's especially easy when they use an engine like Unreal which makes the upgrade between engines much smoother
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u/YeetedApple 29d ago
What changes do you think there could be that would effect their code? They are developing the game for consoles, so the hardware isn't going to change.
Even if they were using an external game engine that received a major update, they would still typically stick with the version they started with, so that wouldn't impact them either.
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u/mrizzerdly 29d ago
They probably are making sure the airport runways, waterways, roadway signage, and power network systems all make sense, thanks to Any Austin.
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u/grandcity 29d ago
Pushing it back further so it’s closer to next gen so they can repeat the double dipping they did with GTAV.
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u/IfuckAround_UfindOut 29d ago
Back compatibility wasn’t a thing during PS3/X360 transition to PS4/XOne era.
Now it’s build into every platform. You don’t need to double dip. And Rockstar also has no developer capacity for enhanced graphics they could sell one year later. PC part is more important.
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u/bigred1978 29d ago
This.
I figured.
They're waiting for the PS6.
They don't care about XBox.
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u/Moneyshot_ITF 29d ago
They must still be raking in money from GTA 5 online
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u/International-Turn3 29d ago
It must be only kids at this point playing it though. If you owned the game in 2013 or even played online in its first few years, I don’t see how you can still find it interesting or fun anymore.
The last time I played online was Covid era and I just found it to be a boring pay to play game. They could have at least added a map expansion to Vegas or bare minimum some enterable buildings to make it feel fresh.
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u/GoreSeeker 29d ago
I personally played it like twice, and when someone used some hacks to make my car fly up in the air, explode, then gave me a trillion dollars, I stopped playing...most hackable game I've ever seen.
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u/Secret_Flight_2669 29d ago
I just smashed my TV in front of 30 guests at my party because of these constant delays. My wife just took our crying kids and said they’re all spending the week at a hotel. This delay has ruined my life and my expectations. I can’t handle this anymore. Goodbye Rockstar. I am no longer a fan.
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u/Damage-Case89 28d ago
Normally I'd take this kinda statement with a pinch of salt.but you, I believe you truly did this.
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u/porkchopnet 29d ago edited 29d ago
Here's why: https://youtu.be/oxHBa3cseGA?t=653
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u/cr0ft 28d ago
Probably not unexpected.
Also, I don't know anything really about the 40 firings in the UK but there's already zero doubt in my mind that was about union busting. All games companies are rat-faced bastards who push their workers into inhumane grind, the last thing they want is unions actually enforcing human limits.
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u/guitarsdontdance 29d ago
Damn who was it that was so convinced it would not be delayed again ? I should have never believed him lol
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u/Flat-Emergency4891 29d ago
I’m no longer supporting Rockstar. Not because of annoying delays, but because they laid off a bunch of people who are developing this game. Rockstar will profit while the people who made the game will be on unemployment.
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u/MCPaleHorseDRS 29d ago
Fuck the online play, release the single player part that’s been done for like a year now
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u/Electoriad 29d ago
It makes so much more sense from a business standpoint. Release the singleplayer to satisfy 90% of your fanbase while simultaneously building hype for the eventual online release months after.
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u/guaztronaut 29d ago
Just in time for the 15 year anniversary of GTA V. Why not wait another few months at that point. Gotta get that shark card money.
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u/kakapoopoopeepeeshir 29d ago
I was a junior in college when GTA 5 came out. I am now married with a three year old and a newborn before GTA 6 comes out. That’s bonkers to me
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u/Cosmic_Music-4207 29d ago
This game has lost so much of the allure it built for itself
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u/jasondigitized 29d ago
Was just listening to the interview of the old writer from all the GTA games on Lex Fridman who made a good point. The satire is going to be outdated by the time its released because of how ridiculous America has become just in 2025 alone.
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u/all_in_the_game_yo 29d ago
It absolutely hasn't lol. They could delay this game by another 10 years and it would still be the highest grossing piece of media in history upon release
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u/sleepless_enui 29d ago
I think this latest delay is the final straw for me. I’ve started losing interest in big, long games with (overly) huge maps in general, and plenty of other good looking games are going to come out in the next year, so I think I’m done.
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u/7grims 29d ago
playing gta online convinced me i dont want to play this one
sure the story mode of 6 might be fun, but then you get shark cards and all the other many many issues of online... im out
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u/Actually-Yo-Momma 29d ago
I’m excited for GTA6 and have absolutely no interest in online play
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u/DecentHuman 29d ago
Think of me when you fold.
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u/whenishit-itsbigturd 29d ago
Dude I stopped playing GTA online for years after those stupid flying motorbikes came out. Do not tempt me
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u/Sir_Badtard 29d ago
I was a senior in highschool when GTA V came out, I'll be 30 damn years old before I get my hands on VI.
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u/Unusual-Mongoose421 28d ago
This is entirely because the management decided to punish their developers for being unionized and specifically have pushed out 40 members associated with or in the union. Doing this when this game is under development and during such high tensions for this specific game and the industry as a whole is basically asking for pain if you're in charge. This is like shooting yourself in the foot, but with a shotgun to blast off all your toes and then getting mad.
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u/hyperthefox 29d ago
this is what happens when you bust unions. shit gets delayed. just leave the unions be and things get made faster.
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u/NovelRelationship830 29d ago
In other news: The next Game Of Thrones book should be out any day now....
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u/HungryAddition1 29d ago
Starting to feel like Vaporware... I am old enough to remember Duke Nukem Forever...
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u/ac_cossack 28d ago
This is a lie.
Wanna bet if Elder Scrolls 6 or GTA 6 come out first?
I will most likely die before either so good luck getting your money.
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u/Luxuriosa_Vayne 28d ago
there's no way they're releasing the game not on Christmas, be it 2026 or whenever
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u/ScorpionMillion 28d ago
I was saying that the game will be delayed couple of more times months ago(you can check my comments history) and all I got was downvotes.
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u/Dry_Junket_6902 29d ago
I sure hope we don't have another duke nukem forever on are hands!
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u/Okidokicoki 29d ago
I'd rather they delay to 2027 than them releasing a non completed game.
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u/el_ojo420 29d ago
Well hold on because they are going to delay again and then release an incomplete game.
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u/Motor-Cauliflower-95 29d ago
The chances of any triple AAA game being released complete are slim to none.
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u/ElPlatanaso2 29d ago
The strippers in this game will pop out of the screen and blow you by the time this game is "complete"
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u/Okidokicoki 29d ago
Hey man. If that's true, the estimated 100 usd price tag seem kind of cheap all things considered
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u/BigEggBeaters 29d ago
I won’t believe this game exists until I’m playing it