GTA 6 Release Timing Clarified by Take-Two: What Do We Know?

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Key Takeaways

  • GTA 6 is set to release in fall 2025, causing Take-Two to lower its revenue forecasts and share prices to drop 3%.
  • Take-Two's CEO expressed confidence in GTA 6's commercial success, emphasizing its setting in the fictional Leonida and the return of Vice City.
  • Take-Two lags behind competitors in the booming cloud gaming market, with recent acquisitions including Zynga and Gearbox Entertainment Co.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is finally getting a more specific release window after the game’s trailer hit the internet last December.

While many touted 2025 as the release date, Take-Two Interactive, the game’s publisher and Rockstar Games parent, has cleared the air, narrowing the launch timeframe to fall 2025.

The announcement came as Take-Two released its Q4 earnings call on May 16. Despite the promising earnings, the GTA 6 release timing caused a mild sell-off.

Since the game won’t hit shelves until after the company’s fiscal year 2025, this prompted Take-Two to lower its full-year revenue forecasts. This resulted in a 3% drop in share prices after hours on May 16. Still, on May 17, it recovered and gained 1.14%.

Take Two shares | Source: Google Finance
Take Two shares | Source: Google Finance

However, the company remains hopeful about the game’s commercial prospects.

“We are highly confident that Rockstar Games will deliver an unparalleled entertainment experience, and our expectations for the commercial impact of the title continue to increase,” Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said.

The GTA 6, set in the fictional state of Leonida, a representation of Florida, will feature two playable characters, drawing inspiration from the infamous pair, Bonnie and Clyde. The return of the beloved Vice City is also on the cards.

With the gaming industry experiencing a huge boom, Take-Two will likely build on the momentum for the official release of GTA 6. Although a report by GlobalData projects the cloud gaming market will explode from $3 billion in 2023 to a staggering $22 billion by 2030, Take-Two has yet to make a solid mark in the market, standing behind the likes of Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Sony, and Nintendo.

Nonetheless, Take-Two is not slowing down in its expansion push, as evident from its acquisitions over the years.

In 2022, Techcrunch reported that Take-Two paid $12.7 billion to purchase mobile games giant Zynga. Last March, there were reports that the company had reached an agreement with Embracer Group to acquire Gearbox Entertainment Co., the maker of the Borderlands franchise, in an amount worth $460 million in stock.