Every GTA Game Delay, From the Filings

Every main Grand Theft Auto game's announced date against its real release, from Take-Two filings and Rockstar posts, with each slip counted in days.

How often has Rockstar missed its own date? This page sets every main Grand Theft Auto game's first announced date or window against the day it actually came out, using Take-Two's SEC filings and Rockstar's own posts, and counts each slip in days.

The record splits in two. From 1999 to 2004 Rockstar either hit its date or slipped by three weeks at most. From GTA IV on, every main game moved by months, and each time Rockstar or Take-Two said the reason was more development or polish time. GTA VI is the largest slip in the series by this count, which is why it has its own page.

At a glance

Item	Answer
Main entries counted	8: GTA, GTA 2, III, Vice City, San Andreas, IV, V, VI
Entries with a recorded slip	6 (III, Vice City, San Andreas, IV, V, VI)
Entries released on their first stated date	1 (GTA 2)
No announced date on record	1 (GTA, 1997)
Shortest slip	7 days (Vice City; San Andreas)
Longest slip	at least 323 days (GTA VI)
Last main game released on its first stated date	GTA 2, Oct 1999

What is counted, and how

Main entries only in the first table: the eight games in the release-gap table of our release dates page. Ports and re-releases with a recorded slip get a second table. Handheld games, episodes and mission packs are left out.

The announced date is the earliest date or window we found in a Take-Two filing or a Rockstar statement. For GTA III, which predates Take-Two's habit of putting dates in its 8-K releases, it is a contemporary GameSpot report. A specific GTA IV date of Oct 16 2007 is widely repeated online, but we found it in no Take-Two or Rockstar record, so this page uses the "October 2007" that Take-Two filed.

The slip. When the first target was a single day, the slip is the days from that day to the release day. When it was a month, season or quarter, we count from the last day of that window, so the figure is a minimum and is marked "at least". Spring 2013 is taken to end on Jun 20 2013, the day before the June solstice. All counts were run by script on calendar dates. Two worked examples:

GTA IV: Oct 31 2007 to Apr 29 2008. November 30 + December 31 + January 31 + February 29 (2008 was a leap year) + March 31 + 29 days of April = 181.
GTA V: Jun 20 to Sep 17 2013. 10 days left in June + 31 in July + 31 in August + 17 in September = 89.

Announced versus actual, every main game

This is the original table of this page.

Game	First date or window on record	Where it was stated	What changed, and when	Released	Slip
Grand Theft Auto (1997)	none on record	-	-	Nov 1997 (international), Jun 1998 (North America)	not measurable
Grand Theft Auto 2	Oct 22 1999	Take-Two release, Oct 13 1999	no change	Oct 1999 (10-K)	0 days
Grand Theft Auto III	"late September" 2001	GameSpot, Sep 25 2001	"second half of October", reported Sep 25 2001	Oct 22 2001	at least 22 days
Vice City	Oct 22 2002	Rockstar's site, via GameSpot, Sep 5 2002	Oct 29 2002, reported Sep 5 2002	Oct 29 2002	7 days
San Andreas	Oct 19 2004 (North America)	Take-Two 8-K, Mar 4 2004	Oct 26 2004, in the Sep 9 2004 8-K	Oct 26 2004 (shipped Oct 25)	7 days
GTA IV	October 2007	Take-Two 8-K, Jun 8 2006	fiscal Q2 2008 on Aug 2 2007; Apr 29 2008 by Mar 11 2008	Apr 29 2008	at least 181 days
GTA V	spring 2013	Rockstar Newswire, Oct 30 2012	Sep 17 2013, on Jan 31 2013	Sep 17 2013	at least 89 days
GTA VI	2025	Take-Two, Dec 4 2023	May 26 2026 on May 2 2025; Nov 19 2026 on Nov 6 2025	Nov 19 2026 (scheduled)	at least 323 days

The GTA VI row is a summary. Its narrowing to fall 2025, both delays and every restatement are dated on /library/gta-vi-delay-timeline. The 323 days run from Dec 31 2025, the last day of the first window, to Nov 19 2026 (FACTS F1, F60 to F62).

What each delay was blamed on

GTA III (2001). GameSpot's Sep 25 2001 report gave no reason for the move from late September to the second half of October. The game came out Oct 22 2001, according to Rockstar's game page. Explanations tied to the Sep 11 2001 attacks circulate widely, but we did not find them in a Rockstar or Take-Two document, so this page does not repeat them.

Vice City (2002). Rockstar's official site moved the date from Oct 22 to Oct 29, GameSpot reported on Sep 5 2002, "to ensure that there will be enough copies of the game on store shelves to meet demand". That is the only delay in this table blamed on supply rather than development.

San Andreas (2004). Take-Two gave Oct 19 in March and again in June 2004. Its Sep 9 2004 release moved North America to Oct 26 and Europe to Oct 29 "to allow additional time for final testing of the game, which exceeds the size, depth and scope of traditional videogames". Rockstar announced on Oct 25 that the game had shipped to North American stores.

GTA IV (2007-2008). Take-Two first filed an October 2007 date in June 2006. On Aug 2 2007, 90 days before the end of that month, it moved the game to its second fiscal quarter of 2008, February to April. Chairman Strauss Zelnick said development had taken more time than expected, "especially given the commitment for a simultaneous release on two very different platforms" (Game Developer, Aug 2 2007). Rockstar later set Apr 29 2008, one day before that quarter closed.

GTA V (2013). Rockstar gave "spring 2013" on Oct 30 2012. On Jan 31 2013 it set Sep 17 2013, writing that this was "about four months later than originally planned" and that the game "simply needs a little more polish". Take-Two's Sep 18 2013 release confirmed that the game launched on Sep 17.

GTA VI (2025-2026). Two delays, both announced on the Newswire with an apology, the second citing polish. Details on /library/gta-vi-delay-timeline.

Ports and re-releases that slipped

The main games are not the only ones that moved. These are the later versions where both the planned and the actual date appear in a Rockstar or Take-Two record.

Version	First date	Changes	Released	Slip
Episodes from Liberty City, PS3 and PC	Mar 30 2010 (Take-Two 8-K, Mar 3 2010)	-	Apr 13 2010 (10-Q, Jun 9 2010)	14 days
GTA V, PC	Jan 27 2015 (Newswire, Sep 12 2014)	Mar 24 2015 (Jan 13 2015); Apr 14 2015 (Feb 24 2015)	Apr 14 2015 (10-K, May 22 2015)	77 days
GTA V, PS5 and Xbox Series X\|S	Nov 11 2021 (Take-Two 8-K, Aug 2 2021)	March 2022 (Sep 9 2021); Mar 15 (Feb 4 2022)	Mar 15 2022	124 days
Trilogy - Definitive Edition, physical	Dec 7 2021 (Take-Two, Nov 3 2021)	-	Dec 17 2021 (Take-Two, Feb 7 2022)	10 days

GTA V on PC is the only version in either table that moved twice before release. Rockstar tied the second move to having GTA Online's Heists ready on PC at launch; see /library/gta-online-heists-history. The PS5 and Xbox Series version is covered in /library/gta-v-ps5-xbox-series-versions.

What the record shows

The size of the slips tracks the size of the games. The three PS2 games that slipped did so by days or a few weeks. Each HD-era main game slipped by months, and the reasons given moved from shelf stock and testing to "development" and "polish".

Until GTA VI, every day Rockstar set after a delay held. Vice City's Oct 29, San Andreas's Oct 26, GTA IV's Apr 29 and GTA V's Sep 17 all held once announced. GTA VI broke the pattern: May 26 2026, the day set at its first delay, was itself moved on Nov 6 2025. The only other replacement date that failed is a port's: GTA V on PC missed Mar 24 2015 as well as its first date. GTA VI's Nov 19 2026 has been restated by Take-Two since Nov 6 2025, most recently on Aug 7 2026 (FACTS F2), but a pattern is not a promise.

Notice has grown with the games. Vice City's move was public 47 days before its original date and San Andreas's 40 days before. GTA IV's came 90 days before the end of its October window, and GTA V's 140 days before the end of spring 2013.

Trivia

GTA 2 is the last main GTA to come out on the first date given for it: Oct 22 1999, announced when the game went gold on Oct 13.
Vice City and San Andreas both slipped exactly one week, two years apart.
GTA IV's new date, Apr 29 2008, fell one day before the end of the fiscal quarter Take-Two had promised.