Fans mourn what would have been GTA 6's launch today — 'My girl surprised me with $100 today and thought GTA 6 was coming out tomorrow'

Jason and Lucia lie in bed, as sunlight comes in through the window. Stylized in classic GTA cartoon style.

• Fans are mourning the passing of Grand Theft Auto 6 's original release date
• The game was originally slated to launch today, May 26, 2026
• Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has reaffirmed that the game is locked in for November 19, 2026

Today is May 26, 2026, the original release date for Grand Theft Auto 6 before it was delayed to November 19, and fans are mourning what could have been.

Last week, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick suggested that GTA 6 is more than a year behind schedule. When asked about meeting a targeted release date in an interview with David Senra, the CEO seemed to confirm that the game was originally slated for an early 2025 launch.

"I think we're about 18 months behind the original date. Not much more than that," Zelnick said.

It's an earlier release date than what the public was aware of. The first officially scheduled date of May 26 was announced alongside the second trailer, which was released over a year ago now.

Shortly after it dropped, however, Rockstar released a statement confirming that it had delayed the game again, this time to November 19.

There are still around six months to go, but if the stars had aligned, we would have been playing the highly anticipated game today.

pic.twitter.com/IUgfygw5lqMay 25, 2026

"Where is everyone...? I'm waiting in front of GameStop until it opens because they said that the game comes out today but I'm the only one here," one Reddit user joked. "I don't get it. I thought that everyone was excited for this game..."

"Yeah man it's strange because I checked Rockstar Games page on X and it said the game is coming out today as it's in their pinned post!" another said.

A fan also shared that his girlfriend "surprised me with $100 today and thought GTA 6 was coming out tomorrow."

Some fans are convinced that Rockstar could drop the third trailer soon, following remarks from Take-Two's CEO that marketing will kick off "soon". It has been over a year since trailer two, and it's almost time for the annual gaming event of the summer, so who knows?

"Tomorrow is May 26th which means we should've been playing GTA 6 right now if the original plan worked out instead of staring at nothing," a Redditor said. "I see a ton of people coping thinking rockstar is gonna drop trailer 3 or some screenshots tomorrow to compensate but honestly zero chance. They aren't gonna remind everyone the game got delayed, that’s just asking for a roast in the comments."

Rockstar's most recent investor meeting also confirmed that GTA 6 won't be delayed again and is still on track for its new release date. Fingers crossed nothing changes between now and then!