Specific reason GTA 6 ‘could be released in 2026’ according to former Grand Theft Auto developer

One of the men integral to creating the Grand Theft Auto gaming universe has said that fans waiting for GTA 6 shouldn't expect a 2025 release date to be set in stone.

Easily the most hotly anticipated video game of this current generation of gaming consoles, millions are waiting patiently for GTA 6 after officially being announced in December last year.

At the time, a trailer for the new game was released, showing off the world of Vice City; a location all to familiar with those who have played previous instalments of the Rockstar Games franchise.

Game number 16 in the GTA universe, the last game people wanted this badly was its predecessor, GTA V. But that was released way back in 2013, meaning it's been a long old wait for the follow up to the game that defined the PS4 and Xbox One consoles.

Well, according to former Grand Theft Auto developer Obbe Vermeij, expect the 2025 release date to potentially be pushed back even further.

Vermeij served as technical director of Rockstar North from 1995 until 2009, leaving the company after the released of GTA IV.

He worked on the very first three dimensional game in the gaming universe, 2001's Grand Theft Auto III, followed by Vice City and San Andreas. All legendary productions, if you played them at the time, meaning Vermeij knows a thing or two about what has made the GTA universe the top of the gaming food chain.

One of the two main characters in GTA 6, known only as Lucia (Rockstar Games)

Given how big GTA 6 is expected to be as a result of the length of time that has passed since the release of its predecessor, the game is expected to be big in every sense and hands down, the most expensive video game ever made.

Recently taking to X (formerly Twitter), Vermeij told fans of the franchise to lower their expectations on a 2025 timeframe.

Despite it being completely vague as to when it could drop in the year, he thinks we should be looking at 2026 going off of his own experience working on previous titles.

He said: "The decision to delay GTA 4 was made four months or so before the original release date.

GTA 6 is currently expected to be released next year (Rockstar Games)

"Any further and it's hard to make the call. Rockstar is probably not in a position to determine whether they will hit 2025 until May-ish."

On the GTA 4 release, Vermeij said: "It really wasn't ready yet. It would have been a mess. Delaying is almost always the right option in my opinion."

He added: "There were a bunch of things that weren't ready. The PS3 version was lagging but also a bunch of missions needed a bit more time. There were a lot of code bugs as well. As I remember the art was done on time."

On a GTA 6 delay, Vermeij told followers to look at the bigger picture.

It'll be released when it's perfect, so says one former GTA dev (Rockstar)

He wrote: "GTA 6 will sell for 10-plus years and there is no competition to worry about.

"They are not going to release the game until they're 100 percent happy with it. No matter what it said in the trailer."

Whether its delayed or not, one thing for certain is that PC users will have to wait a whole lot longer than those with a gaming console.