GTA 6 may be delayed just months before launch, says former Rockstar dev.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is officially scheduled for 2025, but a recent statement by Obbe Vermeij, former designer at Rockstar North, has reignited debates about possible delays. According to him, if a delay occurs, the decision may be made just a few months before the scheduled date — as it happened with GTA 4.

“The original release date [of GTA 4] was October 16, 2007, just in time for Christmas. We made the decision to delay the game in July 2007. I imagine the 'decision day' for [GTA] 6 will be similar,” wrote Vermeij in a post made on April 29, 2024, when the fourth title of the franchise turned 17 years old.

The former developer also recalled the technical difficulties faced at the time. “The PS3 was hard to work with, so the 360 became the main platform. Rockstar San Diego developed the Rage engine to replace RenderWare. We managed to implement an online mode for up to 32 players, which later evolved into GTA Online,” he explained.

Although speculative, the comment echoes an absence that has already been bothering the community: since the first trailer of GTA 6, released in December 2023, no new previews have been released. The title will be set in Vice City, will have at least two playable protagonists, including Lucia, and promises to usher in a new generation of open world, after the 12 years of GTA 5.

During the development of GTA 4, the team chose to remove several elements seen in San Andreas, such as multiple cities, underwater swimming, jetpacks, planes, bicycles, monster trucks, and car customization, all to focus on a more centered narrative. Vermeij left Rockstar North nine months after the release, claiming that the project scope was becoming too large.

He also emphasizes that he does not have internal information about the current development:

“I don't have insider information,” he states. “I'm just speculating based on what we've experienced before.”

While Take-Two Interactive does not confirm new updates, investors and players await the company's fiscal report, scheduled for August 2025, as a possible key date for revelations about the future of GTA 6.