•Rockstar Games originally intended to develop GTA 6 alongside Red Dead Redemption 2, but the plan was quickly abandoned as development progressed.
According to a report by Cade Onder for IGN’s news team, Rockstar initially planned to build both games simultaneously, but that approach became infeasible. Rob Nelson, co-studio head of Rockstar North, recognized that the ambition behind Red Dead Redemption 2 required an “all-hands-on-deck” effort, which meant putting GTA 6 on the back burner.
Nelson told Bloomberg that everything built for Red Dead would ultimately “pay off” in GTA 6. The game now uses numerous ideas and systems from its predecessor, including its NPC interaction system. Had it been developed at the same time, Rockstar likely could have released GTA 6 in the early 2020s.
The first release window Rockstar ever publicly provided for GTA 6 was 2025. The game has been delayed multiple times, much to the bewilderment of Strauss Zelnick, CEO of parent company Take-Two Interactive.
“I think he said, ‘You’re kidding. Please tell me you’re kidding,'” recalled Jennifer Kolbe, Rockstar’s head of publishing, when she had to inform Zelnick that more time was needed. “But once we talked through why, he got it. And I think we are really lucky that he is as reasonable as he is, because a lot of people would say, ‘You’d just better figure out how to ship it.'”
Bloomberg’s report dispels rumors that GTA 6 has been in active development since shortly after GTA 5 was released in 2013. However, this does not mean Rockstar only began working on the game after Red Dead Redemption 2’s launch. Various teams and leadership have been researching and planning GTA 6 since as early as 2014.
The team didn’t have a “skeleton” for GTA 6’s story until the end of 2019, according to Bloomberg—a year after Red Dead Redemption 2 was released. Even then, it took time before the team could fully grasp what the game would become.
Rockstar has vowed to not take nearly as long on its next game
Rockstar doubled in size during GTA 6’s development, encountered multiple leaks, and experienced a loss of productivity during the pandemic. The studio also made major changes to how it operates and expects those changes will set it up for success moving forward.
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