In a long Bloomberg feature by Jason Schreier published on October 14, 2026, Rockstar's leaders spoke on the record for the first time about how Grand Theft Auto VI was made. It contains no story spoilers and does not change the release date. Reported
Project Americas
The game began as Project Americas, with a map spanning large parts of North and South America. That was cut down to Vice City and the state of Leonida. Rockstar does not give a single reason; a continent would have multiplied everything that already made the smaller game hard to finish. GTA 6 was planned alongside Red Dead Redemption 2, and as RDR2 grew it pulled in most of the company, pushing GTA 6 back by years. By 2019 the core of the game and the two-protagonist design were in place; the pandemic and working from home slowed the fine detail. Reported
Two delays
See Release date history. Rob Nelson concluded as the first date approached that the team needed more time, and Jennifer Kolbe made the call to Strauss Zelnick, twice.
A company twice the size
Rockstar had 2,441 employees when RDR2 launched in 2018; it now has 4,711 across twelve offices, about 4,020 in development and QA and 690 in publishing. When the team projected how many characters the game would need written and animated, Nelson's word for the figure was "horrifying", so Rockstar opened a new Los Angeles division of writers, producers and directors dedicated to the people who populate the world. Open-world writing director James Horton's goal: nobody you meet is an extra. Reported
The hack, the office, crunch
Aaron Garbut describes the September 2022 breach as unusually invasive and emotionally hard for the team. Rockstar ended remote work in April 2024 as security tightened, and Kolbe says the five-day office policy will be reviewed after launch. The feature reports measures to limit overtime while acknowledging crunch has not been eliminated. Reported
What comes next
Phil Hooker says the engine, tools and team are meant to be reused rather than rebuilt, so the next project should not take eight years. No next game has been announced. Hooker also says the team changed things "within the last few months", which is ordinary tuning at this scale and not a sign of a third delay. Reported
Official screenshots
Questions
What was Project Americas?
The working title of GTA 6, which began with a map spanning large parts of North and South America before being cut down to Leonida.
Is GTA 6 delayed again?
No. The release date is still November 19, 2026.
Sources and further reading
- Rockstar on GTA 6's long road (SixStarsWanted)
- Rockstar was still changing GTA 6 (SixStarsWanted)
- Bloomberg: Inside the making of Grand Theft Auto 6
- TheGamer: still making changes
Last updated 2026-10-18.
