When Rockstar needed to delay GTA 6 again, Take-Two's CEO responded: "Please tell me you're joking."

Strauss Zelnick Finally Figures Out Why He Needed More Time and Makes It Happen

Strauss-Zelnick finally understood why he needed more time and provided it

Grand Theft Auto 6 GTA 6 Rockstar Games Strauss Zelnick

In May 2025, Rockstar announced that it was delaying Grand Theft Auto 6 until May 2026. Then, a few months later, it announced that it was delaying GTA 6 again until November 2026. For many fans, these back-to-back delays were annoying and frustrating. And to Take-Two CEO Strauss-Zelnick, it apparently seemed like a joke.

On October 14th, Bloomberg published a detailed report on Rockstar Games and its work on GTA 6, its upcoming open-world crime simulator due out on November 19th. Although some of the developers below them were not convinced. But as it got closer, Rob Nelson, head of development and joint studio at Rockstar North, realized they needed more time.

"You feel a lot of pressure and commitment to deliver the highest quality game on the most aggressive time scale that you can," Nelson told Bloomberg. "And then you keep evaluating it as you go. And then you have to decide when you're within striking distance of whether it's actually achievable."

So the developers told Rockstar's head of publishing, Jennifer Kolbe, to call Take-Two president Zelnik to ask for more time, which he granted. Then a few months later in 2025, Kolbe had to call him again and ask for another delay, this time pushing GTA 6 back to November 2026.

"I think he said, 'You've got to be kidding,'" Kolbe recalled. "Please tell me you're kidding me"

"But when we talked about why, he got it. And I think we're really lucky that he's as reasonable as he is, because a lot of people say, 'You better figure out how to send it.'

Zelnick explained that it's usually a "wise investment of time" and resources to give developers more time and delay the game's launch to "reach the level of perfection it's capable of". However, I have a feeling it wasn't a fun call for him or Kolb.

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