Rockstar says its next game should come faster than GTA VI, in a Bloomberg making-of feature

Rockstar studio heads say their next game should not take as long to make as GTA VI. Video Games Chronicle reports that Phil Hooker and Aaron Garbut made the point in a Bloomberg feature on the making of the game. Hooker said the engine, tools and team built during GTA VI will let the studio work more quickly, and that the next project can grow "sideways" rather than upwards. Garbut said Rockstar "foundationally changed a lot of stuff" for GTA VI but has no plan to rip it apart now that it is done.

The same feature covers how the game was staffed. Insider Gaming reports that development lead Rob Nelson told Bloomberg Rockstar did not have the production capacity for the number of NPCs it planned, and that the studio opened a new Los Angeles studio in response. Writers, producers and directors there work on the NPCs that fill out the game world. Nelson described the projections the team was given as "horrifying".

GTA VI releases Nov 19 2026, Rockstar's first major new single-player release since Red Dead Redemption 2 in October 2018.

Why it matters. The gap between Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA VI was eight years. Rockstar's own leads now say the work done on GTA VI is meant to carry over, which points to a shorter wait for whatever comes next.

What is still unknown. Rockstar has not named its next game or given any timeline for it. VGC notes there is no suggestion it will arrive as quickly as Vice City did after GTA III. We have not read the Bloomberg feature itself, which did not load for us; this brief relies on the VGC and Insider Gaming write-ups.