Take-Two chief Strauss Zelnick says he doesn't regret delaying Grand Theft Auto VI, and he argues that rushing a game out the door is the bigger risk. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, as reported by PC Gamer, he called the delay essential to Take-Two's mission "to make the best entertainment on earth."
Two delays, one decision
GTA 6 has been delayed twice. PC Gamer's report does not give the dates of those announcements, so the exact timeline is not clear from this coverage. The current target is November 19, 2026, on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
What Zelnick said
- The timing of the call about the delay was "not great." Take-Two had held a board retreat just 10 days earlier.
- He described it as a balancing act, and said the constraint "could be resources," not just time.
- "These are very difficult decisions to make," he said. Sometimes you have to make "expensive and inconvenient decisions in service of that mission goal."
The jab at rushed releases
Zelnick contrasted Take-Two's approach with "slavishly" keeping to a schedule and shipping regardless. He pointed to a "very high profile release" that had to be pulled after launch because it didn't work. He did not name it.
PC Gamer's writer bets the game is Concord. That is the writer's guess, not something Zelnick confirmed.
What it means for players
- Take-Two's top executive is framing the delay as a quality decision, not a scheduling failure.
- With launch set for November 19, the date is now the one players are planning around.
- Rockstar has not used this interview to change the timeline, so the November date is the one to watch.
Sources
- GTA BOOMZelnick Explains Why Another GTA 6 Delay Was Necessary - GTA BOOM
- DexertoGTA 6 boss defends delays with nod to Cyberpunk 2077’s launch
- PC GamerZelnick doesn't regret GTA 6's delay because shipping an unfinished game rarely ends well: 'There was a very high profile release that fell into this category'