'GTA 6' fans expecting pre-orders to open on Monday were left empty-handed after a widely shared leak tied to Best Buy proved unfounded, and Take-Two Interactive's share price lurched up and down in response. The latest false alarm around 'GTA 6,' amplified by affiliate emails and social media speculation, comes just months after Take-Two chief executive Strauss Zelnick publicly confirmed a 19 November 2026 release date for Rockstar's next blockbuster.
The frenzy over pre-orders landed on top of a longer, messier timetable. 'GTA 6' was first announced for a fall 2025 launch, then officially pushed to May 2026, and again to this November. In a recent long-form interview with podcaster David Senra, Zelnick went further and suggested the game is about 18 months behind the original date, implying Rockstar had at one stage been aiming internally for around spring 2025. The gap between that early target and the current plan helps explain why every rumour, no matter how flimsy, now sets the fanbase off.
'GTA 6' Delay, Cost and Pressure to 'Deliver Perfection'
Zelnick tried to strike a calm note, insisting the delays are there to give Rockstar 'everything it needs' to achieve something close to perfection. The pressure is not imaginary. 'GTA 6' is routinely described inside the company as a likely candidate for the biggest entertainment launch of all time, not just in games.
Business Insider recently estimated that Take-Two has already poured between $1 billion and $1.5 billion into 'GTA 6.' Zelnick declined to confirm the exact figure in that interview, but did concede the obvious: 'It was expensive.' For comparison, some of the most talked‑about blockbuster games in recent years have hovered in the hundreds of millions. Court documents have shown Activision spent $700 million across the life of 'Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.' Bungie's latest shooter was reported at more than $250 million. 'GTA 6' appears to be in another league altogether.
Obviously, nothing is going to happen when the entire world is expecting a GTA 6 trailer to drop along with pre-orders.
— Grand Theft Auto 6 Alerts (@GTA6Alerts) May 18, 2026
Even if it were actually planned to drop today, Sam Houser would probably cancel it after seeing that everyone expects it. Sam loves to completely surprise… pic.twitter.com/JXwPLVQj7o
According to Business Insider's reporting, some Rockstar employees have been attached to 'GTA 6' for more than a decade. In a separate interview with Bloomberg, Zelnick said development costs have risen over the years but stressed that Take-Two aims to provide 'unlimited financial, creative human resources' and then leave teams to aim for the highest standard. That language sounds flattering, but it also hints at just how long and costly this project has become.
Zelnick's tone on timing, however, is less flexible. Asked in Senra's video interview how he copes with uncertainty over release dates while still promising Rockstar the time it needs, he cut in with a flat answer: 'November 19th, I do know. It's been announced.' For investors and fans wary of yet another delay, it was about as blunt a reassurance as they are likely to get.
Preorder Rumours, Best Buy Emails and Twitchy Stock Price
Hopes for a more immediate milestone centred on preorders. Some content creators in Best Buy's affiliate programme claimed to have received emails stating that 'GTA 6' preorders would open on 18 May, fuelling expectations that Trailer 3 would drop at the same time. It did not take long for that claim to ricochet around Reddit, X and YouTube, where more hopeful than cautious commentary has become the norm.
The story began to fray when an administrator on the unofficial 'GTA' Forums cited a source at a European distribution company as saying there were 'no pre-orders' in the pipeline, a line later picked up by IGN. By Monday morning, 'GTA 6' had failed to materialise on major online retail sites. Without any listing, let alone an official Rockstar statement, the Best Buy narrative collapsed into yet another 'maybe this week' that came to nothing.
Despite how flimsy it looked up close, the rumour had real‑world financial effects. The latest swirl of preorder speculation helped nudge Take-Two's share price higher, before a pullback on Monday morning as it became clear nothing was happening, followed by a partial recovery. In other words, 'GTA 6' is now so central to the company's prospects that unauthorised whispers about an order button can move the market, however briefly.
What fans still do not have is clarity on the 'GTA 6' preorder price, or even a ballpark. Zelnick has been willing to say the game will have no in‑world product placement, but he has so far avoided the more combustible topic of how much consumers will be charged for what may be the most expensive video game ever made. Until Rockstar or Take-Two speaks directly, any supposed price 'leaks' should be treated with considerable scepticism. Nothing is confirmed yet, so everything should be taken with a grain of salt.
That has not stopped the community from trying. Trailer 2 landed more than a year ago, and the drought since has turned the smallest scrap of information into a talking point. With Take-Two's next earnings report due on Thursday 21 May, some are already convincing themselves that a new trailer, preorder launch or detailed info dump must be close by, especially after Zelnick said proper 'GTA 6' marketing would start this summer. The pattern is now familiar enough. If there is a safe rule with 'GTA 6,' it is this: do not believe anything until it is literally in front of you.
