Take-Twos Strauss Zelnick avslöjade varför utvecklingen av GTA 6 tog så lång tid

GTA 6, the most anticipated video game of 2026 and one of the most anticipated games in history, has been in development for quite a long time, while gamers know only a small part about it. But no one doubts that Rockstar Games will create a high-quality and, probably, their most ambitious product of all time.

The reason why the development of Grand Theft Auto VI took so long, namely 13 years—since almost exactly that much time has passed since GTA 5 was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360—was recently explained by the CEO of Take-Two Interactive, Strauss Zelnick, during his speech at the TD Cowen 54th Annual Conference. In addition, he expressed confidence that GTA 6 will not "cannibalize their other products like GTA Online," but will only help their development, and also stated that the reason why the game is so highly anticipated is the presence of the "GTA ecosystem" built by Rockstar Games.

“It was not a simple story of like “wow guy took you a long time to come back to market,” because look at what Rockstar launched, they remade GTA 5 for PC, and for each new generation, and they launched GTA Online, plus other services. What has driven the gap is the amount of time it takes to do something that is as good as it can possibly be, and to build some anticipation.”

During this same speech, Zelnick shared his vision on why other studios, including those that include former Rockstar Games developers, have not been able to create their own franchise comparable to GTA, and in his opinion, the reason lies in the presence of employees who are constantly eager to develop, rather than in technology.

Strauss Zelnick also recently teased that the GTA 6 marketing campaign will start on June 21, and around the same time, the long-awaited opening of pre-orders and the reveal of a new trailer should be expected. The game's release will take place on November 19 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.