On October 14, 2026 Bloomberg published a long feature by Jason Schreier in which Rockstar's heads of development Rob Nelson, Aaron Garbut and Phil Hooker, head of publishing Jennifer Kolbe and Take-Two chief executive Strauss Zelnick spoke on the record about making GTA 6. No spoilers, no date change. Confirmed
The main points
- The game began as Project Americas and was cut to Leonida.
- RDR2 pulled in most of the company and pushed GTA 6 back by years; by 2019 the core and the two leads were set.
- Nelson concluded the team needed more time as the first date approached; Kolbe asked Zelnick twice. His reported first reaction: "Please tell me you're kidding."
- A new Los Angeles division of writers, producers and directors was opened for the world's characters after Nelson called the projected count "horrifying".
- Garbut describes the September 2022 breach as unusually invasive; security tightened and remote work ended.
- Rockstar has measures to limit overtime but says crunch is not eliminated.
- Hooker: the engine, tools and team are meant to be reused, so the next game should not take eight years.
Official screenshots
Questions
How many people work at Rockstar?
4,711 across twelve offices, per Bloomberg's October 2026 feature, up from 2,441 when Red Dead Redemption 2 launched in 2018.
Sources and further reading
- Rockstar on GTA 6's long road (SixStarsWanted)
- Bloomberg
Confirmed shown or stated by Rockstar Reported from press or insiders Community fan-mapped label Speculation our reading
Last updated 2026-11-06.
