GTA 6 marketing hype begins this summer as Take-Two denies new delay

Take-Two has reaffirmed GTA 6 is on track for November, as they insist there will be physical copies at launch.

Ever since GTA 6 was pushed back to November this year, there’s been concern of a third delay to Rockstar’s sequel.

This has been compounded by reports that the title is not yet ‘content complete’, with games on the scale of GTA 6 usually requiring the best part of a year just for polishing.

Despite these concerns – and other distractions like the ongoing union battles at Rockstar North and a boiler explosion – it seems Take-Two, at this moment in time at least, is pretty confident it will launch later this year.

Take-Two reaffirmed GTA 6’s November 19 release date in its financial report for Q3 2026, and while this wouldn’t be particularly noteworthy on its own, the company also confirmed plans to start marketing the title in earnest this summer.

The report reads: ‘Our execution throughout Fiscal 2026 has been extraordinary and we are highly confident as we approach Fiscal 2027 – which promises to be groundbreaking for Take-Two and the entire entertainment industry – led by the November 19 release of Grand Theft Auto 6 with Rockstar’s launch marketing set to begin this summer.’

Additionally, Zelnick has reaffirmed his confidence about the launch date in several interviews. Speaking to IGN, he said: ‘Because any time you’re getting closer to marketing beats, you’re obviously in a place where your confidence level is as high as it can be.’

In a separate interview with The Game Business, Zelnick said: ‘You know me pretty well, for me to even say we’ve got marketing beats coming this summer is a huge departure from what I usually say, which is that our labels will make marketing announcements.’

The only problem is that Zelnick said stuff like that before the previous delays as well, although he’s never promised a marketing push like this before.

Zelnick has also been bullish in response to reports that GTA 6 will not have a physical version at launch. ‘That’s not the plan,’ Zelnick told Variety.

It certainly sounds like GTA 6 is locked in for this year, but if marketing for the game doesn’t start popping up over the summer months, it’s back to panic stations.

Beyond the game’s launch, Zelnick discussed generative AI in his latest earnings call, and despite being sceptical of the technology in interviews a few months ago, it seems like he’s become more open to the idea.

‘The video game business, since its inception, was built on the back of machine learning and artificial intelligence,’ Zelnick told investors. ‘We create our games in computers, with technology, and ever since questions began about generative AI about 18 months ago, I’ve been incredibly enthusiastic about what the future can bring.

‘As it happens now, we’re actively embracing generative AI. We have hundreds of pilots and implementations across our company, including with our studios, and we are seeing opportunities to drive efficiencies, reduce costs, and create the opportunity to do what digital technology has always allowed, which is, mundane tasks become easier and less relevant, which frees up our creators to do the more interesting tasks of making superb entertainment.’

This is very different in tone when compared to his comments from October 2025, where he described generative AI as ‘backward looking’ and ‘derivative’.

He will know that being positive about AI is exactly what investors want to hear though, regardless of his actual feelings on the matter and whether AI use is widespread at Take-Two or not.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz on the subject, following the earnings call, he already sounded more cautious: ‘Do I think tools by themselves create great entertainment properties? No, there’s no evidence that that’s the case and it won’t be the case in the future.’

He went on to state that there’s no use of generative AI in GTA 6, adding: ‘Specifically, with regards to GTA 6, generative AI has zero part in what Rockstar Games is building. Their worlds are handcrafted. That’s what differentiates them. They’re built from the ground up, building by building, street by street, neighbourhood by neighbourhood. They’re not procedurally generated, they shouldn’t be. That’s what makes great entertainment.’

The latter will be reassuring to GTA fans, but we’ll have to wait and see if GTA 6 will live up to the anticipation when it (hopefully) launches across PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19, 2026.

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