Undoubtedly, one of the biggest and most influential video game series in the world is Grand Theft Auto. Regardless of the type of gamer you are, chances are you’ve played at least one of them, whether it was through the neon-lit streets of 80’s Vice City or the long freeways between San Fierro and Los Angeles—we’ve all been there. And while we all remember the series fondly, we also know that the road to the release date of any GTA game has us all clutching our pearls because almost every single mainline entry has had at least one delay. We’ll go over the history of this iconic franchise’s main installments leading up to launch.
Grand Theft Auto III – Launched on October 23, 2001, With One Delay
Let’s start with the game that probably introduced many of us to the series: GTA III. This third main installment was the one that brought the franchise into 3D and laid the foundations for what the subsequent entries would become. Initially, this game was developed for the Dreamcast, but it quickly shifted its focus to the PlayStation 2, which was the platform it originally launched on.
Now, while many other mainline games had delays, in the case of GTA III, delaying the release was the right choice. For the unaware, GTA III was initially scheduled to launch on October 3, 2001. However, the studio decided to delay it until October 22, 2001, due to the 9/11 incidents. They also made several changes, including changing the colors of police vehicles and removing certain missions.
After its October 22 launch, the game then landed on PC on May 21, 2002, and on Xbox on November 4, 2003. Afterward, we saw it in the Anniversary Edition of 2011, and most recently, remastered as part of the Definitive Edition in 2021. This last one had an extremely rocky launch but has since ironed out most of the issues.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – Launched on October 29, 2022, With a Seven-Day Delay
Believe it or not, the development of GTA: Vice City started during the final development phases of GTA III. Initially, the studio planned this as an expansion for the third mainline entry, with added vehicles and missions. Fortunately, Rockstar shifted its focus and made it into one of the best standalone games of the whole series to date.
Unfortunately, it also had a delay, yet a short one at that, and for reasons that were more than understandable. The release date for GTA: Vice City was set for October 22, 2002, but they had to delay it until October 29 to ensure there would be enough copies for everyone. Grand Theft Auto was already big, but here’s when the world realized just how much of a phenomenon it had become, and the developers were aware of that.
Like GTA III, GTA Vice City also launched on PC in May 2003 and on Xbox in November 2003. This title also launched as part of the infamous Definitive Edition Trilogy and sparked controversy, as a team of modders sought to fix the port by using the RAGE game engine from GTA IV. However, the modders received a DMCA complaint from the publisher, thus ending the project.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Launched on October 26, 2004, With a Seven-Day Delay
There might be some people who never played any of the two previous installments, but everyone, and probably their grandma too, knows about GTA: San Andreas. Besides being the best-selling game of PS2 and one of the most moddable GTA entries at the time, it is also one of, if not the most iconic, installments in the whole franchise, and with good reason.
Instead of a short development time, like the one for Vice City, Rockstar had around two years for San Andreas, and it showed. The open world was like nothing we had seen before, and the story is still regarded as one of the best in the series. It was so great that the reason why GTA: San Andreas ended up delaying its release date was just to polish the game a bit further. Its original release date of October 19, 2004, was pushed to October 22, 2004, which is also one of the shortest in the franchise. It launched a year later in June on Xbox and PC simultaneously.
Despite its critical acclaim, it wasn’t without controversy, mainly due to the Hot Coffee Mod, which led to the game being banned in Australia until the content was removed. Still, just as GTA III laid the foundations for the franchise’s 3D era, San Andreas set a new standard for narrative quality and immersive open-world gameplay, a standard that only kept improving with every subsequent release.
Grand Theft Auto IV – Launched on April 29, 2009, With a Six-Month Delay
The game was officially revealed during E3 2006, and the release date was set for October 16, 2007. However, many speculated that GTA IV would get a delay, pushing its release date between February and April. Eventually, Rockstar confirmed the delay, as it was having issues with the PS3 version of GTA IV. After some waiting, GTA IV finally launched on April 29, 2008.
Grand Theft Auto IV was also the first mainline entry to feature two expansion packs, both of which launched in 2009. However, this time they launched on Xbox 360 first before landing on PC and PlayStation 3 in 2010.
If San Andreas established several standards, GTA IV raised the bar even higher in terms of storytelling and gameplay aspects. Many even claim that Niko’s story is among the best in the whole franchise, and the inclusion of player choices that affected the plot made this entry’s narrative much more memorable.
Grand Theft Auto V – Launched on September 17, 2013, With One Delay Only
And we have now reached the game that all of us have played, regardless of generation, because it’s been around for over a decade. Contrary to its predecessor, GTA V was only announced in 2011 with no set date. We only had a release window for Q2 of 2013, and it had only one delay, at least in consoles, with its official release date on September 17, 2013.
The PC version, however, had another delay, as it didn’t launch alongside the console versions as planned. It ended up releasing on April 14, 2015, but the wait was worth it, as it is probably the best version to experience this now decade-old installment.
A big reason why GTA V has stuck around is due to GTA Online, which is the game mode that has been receiving updates on a yearly basis, with at least two big ones per year. Many of us remember its humble beginnings with the servers crashing on opening day and forcing us to restart our characters.
In any case, GTA V received several versions after its initial launch: the PS4 and Xbox One versions launched in 2014, and the Enhanced versions for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S in 2022. This last Enhanced version eventually launched for PC in 2025 as a free update for all GTA V owners.
Grand Theft Auto VI – Not Released Yet, With Two Delays
And last, but certainly not least, GTA VI. Saying GTA VI is the most anticipated game right now would be an understatement, as it will truly be a world phenomenon when it eventually launches. For everyone following its release schedule and delays, GTA VI has had not one, but two official delays.
First, everyone thought GTA VI would launch in late 2025, according to what Take-Two Interactive said, but it was delayed to May 26, 2026. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of delays, because GTA VI got a new release date for November 19, 2026, which, according to the publishers and developers, is the definitive one.
While this has caused a lot of commotion online, recent reports saying that marketing will begin in the summer have made the whole gaming community hopeful. On top of that, it seems these delays have been all about polishing the game further, and if history has taught us anything, it is that Rockstar ends up delivering a top-notch product after they delay it.
As you can see, the history of GTA and its release dates has been a long one and full of delays. Still, many gamers have come to terms with that because the end product is always among the best in the market, and we’re sure this time will be the same. Yet, we all have the right to be a bit skeptical, since two delays so close to each other are cause for concern. We just hope there isn’t a third.
