GTA 6 took years to develop because Rockstar Games faced major changes behind the scenes, struggled with the challenges of building a huge open world, and tried to improve its working conditions.
In an interview with Rockstar North, Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier revealed several reasons why GTA 6 has taken so long to develop, including key staff departures, the COVID-19 pandemic, a growing development team, and Rockstar’s efforts to reduce crunch.
The latest report gives fans a better idea of why Rockstar’s next Grand Theft Auto game has taken so long to make.
From the departure of key creative figures to the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenge of managing a much larger team, several factors affected the game’s development.
According to Schreier’s report for Bloomberg, GTA 6’s development was not simply about making a bigger game.
Rockstar also had to reorganize its teams, rethink its plans, and find new ways to handle a project that grew more complex over time.
One major factor was the departure of several important people after Red Dead Redemption 2 launched in 2018.
Dan Houser, Michael Unsworth, and Lazlow Jones were among the key creative figures who left Rockstar, creating another challenge as the studio worked to shape the next Grand Theft Auto game.
Rockstar also had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced developers to work from home.
Remote work made communication and collaboration more difficult for a project that required teams across different departments to work closely together.
Following the major GTA 6 leaks in 2022, Rockstar also tightened its approach to remote work and pushed for employees to return to the office.
Another factor was Rockstar’s decision to focus on Red Dead Redemption 2 before moving most of its development team onto GTA 6.
Although early planning for GTA 6 began in 2015, the majority of the team only started working on it after Red Dead Redemption 2 launched in 2018.
This meant the next Grand Theft Auto game had to wait while Rockstar finished its previous major release.
The size of the development team also became a challenge. Rockstar’s workforce grew significantly during GTA 6’s development, bringing more people into a project that already involved many complex systems.
While a larger team can help build a bigger game, it can also create communication problems and make it harder to coordinate work across departments.
Rockstar was also testing new ideas and systems while trying to decide what worked best for GTA 6. Creating a detailed open world requires more than designing a large map.
Developers must make characters, missions, traffic, wildlife, and countless small interactions work together naturally.
Getting these systems to work as intended takes time, especially when the studio is aiming for a high level of detail.
The game also benefits from Rockstar’s effort to make its working conditions better than they were during the development of Red Dead Redemption 2.
The studio has tried to reduce crunch, a practice in which developers work long hours to meet deadlines.
Avoiding heavy crunch can help protect employees, but it also means the studio must carefully manage its schedule and expectations.
Recent reporting has described Rockstar’s attempts to change its working culture, although questions about crunch have not completely disappeared.
These challenges help explain why GTA 6 has taken so long to develop. Rockstar is working on one of its largest projects yet, while also dealing with changes to its creative team, development plans, technology, and workplace policies.
Fans can read more about the game’s world and characters on the official GTA 6 website. Grand Theft Auto VI is currently scheduled to launch on November 19, 2026, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
With the release getting closer, Schreier’s report offers a rare look at the work behind one of gaming’s most anticipated titles.
It also shows that GTA 6’s long development was the result of several connected challenges rather than one single problem.
