GTA 6 confirms plans for summer 2026, confirms release date

Marketing for the launch of Grand Theft Auto 6 will officially begin this summer, Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, has now confirmed. The studio's CEO, Strauss Zelnick, recently gave Grand Theft Auto 6 fans with a much-requested update to the title, confirming its release date of November 19, 2026, while dispelling some rumors and giving the community hope that no further delays are imminent.

Many fans thought that Take-Two's latest quarterly earnings would see a new trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 released in advance. Unfortunately, it was not so. But CEO Strauss Zelnick shared plenty of good updates about the title, even shutting down recent rumors that there wouldn't be a physical release of Grand Theft Auto 6 until 2027. The claim came late last month from a source who works with physical video games in Europe and correctly leaked the PS5 port of Microsoft Flight Simulatorwho stated that Rockstar likely wants to avoid spoilers getting online before the game's release by only launching digitally in November. The insider thought a physical release could come as late as 2027, but Zelnick has now revealed that's “not the plan.”

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GTA 6 marketing starts this summer

Zelnick's updates on Grand Theft Auto 6 It didn't stop there though, as the February 3rd earnings call also revealed that Rockstar Games intends to start its launch marketing for its next title in the summer of 2026. Take-Two's CEO once again reiterated his confidence in the game's current November 19th release date. While we've heard this many times before, only to have a delay follow, the company's confidence in revealing its marketing plans suggests things are headed in the right direction.

“You know me pretty well, for me to even say we have marketing beats coming this summer is a huge departure from what I usually say,” Strauss Zelnick via The Game Business.

So far marketing for Grand Theft Auto 6 has been protracted and sporadic. The first trailer for the game was released all the way back in December 2023, a year after fans got their first unofficial look at the next Grand Theft Auto game via some unfortunate leaks. At the time of its first trailer, Rockstar was targeting a fall 2025 release, which was eventually pushed back to May 26, 2026. This delay was unfortunate, but a second trailer and tons of screenshots accompanied the news just days later. Then, last November, Rockstar disappointed fans once again by delaying Grand Theft Auto 6 a second time, to push it back to November 19, 2026. Thankfully, Zelnick confirmed this release date during the company's most recent quarterly earnings call, and with marketing set to start this summer, it looks like the odds of another delay are slim.

The question many fans now have is: when will it come Grand Theft Auto 6 Trailer 3 coming? Given that it has now been 9 months since the game's second trailer was released, many were hoping to see something relatively soon. However, with Zelnick now confirming that marketing will begin in the summer, it looks like Rockstar may hold off until June or July. Of course, releasing a trailer and starting a full-scale marketing campaign are two very different things, so that doesn't necessarily mean fans won't get to see anything from Grand Theft Auto 6 before the summer.

Zelnick also gave fans a glimpse of what the future might hold GTA online after the launch of Grand Theft Auto 6. At the time of writing, Rockstar has yet to reveal whether or not the next entry in the series will have its own online multiplayer component the current iteration of GTA online will simply continue to evolve. During yesterday's earnings call, the CEO said he has “every reason to believe” that support GTA online will continue after the release of Grand Theft Auto 6. Zelnick explained that the live service title has a huge community, and if players keep showing up, Rockstar will continue to release new updates.