Confirmed Updated by Javier Marín
When GTA 6 comes out, and how solid the date is
One date, published by Rockstar in writing on its own Newswire. This page keeps it, the two dates that come before it, and the evidence for and against it moving again.
Sources Rockstar Newswire, launch date Rockstar Newswire, pre-order announcement
| What | Where it stands | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Release date | November 19, 2026 | Confirmed |
| Platforms at launch | PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S | Confirmed |
| Pre-load opens | November 12, 2026 | Confirmed |
| Physical copies in shops | November 12, 2026 | Confirmed |
| Times the date has moved | Two | Confirmed |
| PC release date | Rockstar has not announced a PC date. | Unknown |
The date
November 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S.
That is not a leak, an analyst estimate or a retailer placeholder. Rockstar published it in a signed post on its own Newswire, and the link is at the top of this page. If you only came here for the date, that is it, and you can stop reading.
The two dates that matter more in practice
Most people planning around this game care about release day. If you are buying it digitally, two earlier dates will affect your evening more.
Pre-load opens on November 12, 2026. A week before launch, if you have pre-ordered digitally, you can start the download at your own pace. Doing it on launch night instead means competing with everybody else on your platform for the same file.
Physical copies reach shops on November 12, 2026, the same day. Worth knowing before you buy a disc to save your connection: the box contains a download code, not the game. You download exactly the same file either way.
Both come from the same Newswire post, and both are covered in detail on the pre-order page.
Has it been delayed
Yes, Two times, and both delays were announced by Rockstar rather than leaked.
The short version is that the game was first announced with a year and no month, then moved to a specific day, then moved again by under six months to the current date. The full record, with the exact wording of each announcement, is on the delay page.
Is this date going to hold
Nobody outside Rockstar can answer that, so here is the evidence instead of a guess.
What points to it holding. Pre-orders have been open for months, on every storefront. A pre-load date is published, which platforms require a finished build to schedule. Physical stock is booked into shops for a specific day, which involves manufacturing and distribution contracts that cost real money to unwind. Marketing has moved from teasing to showing extended gameplay footage captured on a retail console. None of those existed at either previous announcement.
What points to it moving. It has moved twice. This is the largest and most expensive entertainment production of its kind, and the cost of shipping it in poor shape is much higher than the cost of another delay. A studio that has already accepted two rounds of criticism for delaying has demonstrated it will accept a third.
Our read, offered as a read rather than a fact: the commitments now attached to this date are of a different kind from the ones attached to the previous two. That makes it materially more likely to hold, and it is not a promise.
What is still not confirmed
No PC date. Rockstar has not announced a PC date. That gap has its own page, the PC page, including how long the wait ran last time and why that is history rather than a schedule.
No launch time. Rockstar has committed to a day, not an hour. Storefronts usually unlock at midnight local time, but that is a platform convention rather than something Rockstar has stated here.
No pricing. Covered on the price page.
How you will know if it changes
If the date moves, Rockstar announces it on the Newswire, as it has both previous times. When that happens this page changes first, the delay page gets the new entry, and the countdown across the site recalculates from the data rather than from anything typed by hand.
We do not publish speculation that a delay is coming, and a rumor never gets written here as a date change. If you would rather be told than keep checking, the countdown is the page to bookmark.