Grand Theft Auto VI Delayed Again, As Rockstar Lays Off Employees

Mark you calendar. Not for a street date of GTA VI, but how many projected street dates it's had thus far. That's right, Grand Theft Auto VI will see another delay in its release date. Rockstar stated in a press release on November 6th that the once projected May 26th launch will be pushed back from a late Q2 drop all the way back to Fall of 2026.

"Grand Theft Auto VI will now release on Thursday, November 19, 2026.

We are sorry for adding additional time to what we realize has been a long wait, but these extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve," Rockstar states. "We want to thank you again for your patience and support. While the wait is a little longer, we are incredibly excited for players to experience the sprawling state of Leonida and a return to modern day Vice City."

ROCKSTAR LAYS OFF EMPLOYEES

Preceding the announcement of Grand Theft Auto VI's delays, there was also news that the publisher/developer has fired around 30 to 40 employees. According to Game Informer, the people laid off were from their Canadian and UK offices for what's reported as "gross misconduct". The Independent Worker's Union of Great Britain has refuted the misconduct claim, citing that this was a union-busting effort on Rockstar's part. The story goes, the employees were already unionized workers were attempting to form a union within Rockstar.

In an update, Rockstar has reported to Bloomberg's Jason Scheier (paywalled article) that the firings were a result of the former workers sharing confidential information.

"Last week, we took action against a small number of individuals who were found to be distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum, a violation of company policies," a Rockstar spokesperson said to Bloomberg. "This was in no way related to people's right to join a union or engage in union activities."

It's no secret that large companies are known for deploying union-busting tactics. Rockstar has a history of applying egregious crunch and excessive work hours for their employees, despite their refuting of the claims. Grand Theft Auto V and red Dead Redemption 2 were cases where staffers were enduring 100+ hour work weeks towards the completion of the games. even with game delays, traces of this kind of culture may linger.

SOURCES: Rockstar, Bloomberg, Game Informer