Summary
Take-Two Interactivehas confirmed in a recent financial report thatGrand Theft Auto 6didn’t properly start development until 2020, despite recent claims that it was 2018.
Considering how long ago Grand Theft Auto 5was, fans have been waiting for the next entry in the series for a very long time, even withRed Dead Redemption 2plugging the gap between Rockstar releases. With news about the game finally coming out at asteady pace following its recent and seemingly delay into 2026, that just leaves one question - how long has GTA 6 been in development?
Last week, we surprisingly got an answer to that very questionthanks to an environment artist who previously worked at Rockstar during GTA 6’s development. In a recent video reacting to GTA 6’s screenshots, David O’Reilly noted that work started on the game in 2018, right after Red Dead Redemption 2 shipped, but that apparently isn’t entirely accurate.
Don’t Worry, GTA 6 Hasn’t Been Properly In Development For 8 Years
It’s Actually Closer To Six
As pointed out by IGN, Take-Two Interactive recently held a financial report where it talked in detail about GTA 6 for the first time since its second trailer and delay. During the report,Take-Two claimed that GTA 6 didn’t start development in 2018, and that it actually began “in earnest” in 2018.
While this might seem like it goes against what O’Reilly said in his video, the phrase “in earnest” gives the game away a little bit. What this essentially means is that full-scale development began in 2020, while earlier ideas, concepts, and generally pitching the game began much earlier. In a way, both O’Reilly and Take-Two are correct in what they’ve said.
IGN’s article on GTA 6’s development also refutes the claim that GTA 6 cost $2 billion to develop, as it says that analysts place it closer to $1 billion.
With that in mind, GTA 6 has properly been in development for around six years, instead of the eight years that waspreviously reported based on O’Reilly’s video. Still, the project itself has at least been talked about and has had work done on it since 2018 - it’s just that the full vision and direction of the game wasn’t shaped until two years later.
