Grand Theft Auto maker firms up GTA 6 release date

One of the most eagerly anticipated video game releases of recent times - the sixth edition of the Grand Theft Auto franchise - will take place in autumn 2025, its publisher says.

Take-Two Interactive, parent company of developer Rockstar Games, made the announcement during its latest earnings call.

Interest in GTA 6 is huge: the trailer for it has had more than 190m views on YouTube since it was released by Rockstar in December after being leaked online.

Gaming industry analyst Piers Harding-Rolls told the BBC the long development time meant it was set to come to market "as the most expensive game ever made".

"Rockstar is known for lengthy game development cycles as it strives to perfect its games before they are released but the wait for GTA 6 has been longer than ever," he said.

He added the continued success of GTA 5 had eased pressure on Rockstar to rush out a less polished successor.

Even though it has been more than 10 years since Rockstar released GTA 5, the game continues to be a key source of revenue for Take-Two.

In its call with investors on Thursday, it disclosed it had sold 200 million units worldwide to date, with its audience size growing by 35% last year.

That means it is still the second best selling video title of all time, behind Minecraft.

But even though Take-Two may feel able to take its time, Mr Harding-Rolls suggested the release window for GTA 6 "will come as a bit of a blow to the console platform companies and games retailers looking to boost their sales" who may have been hoping it would arrive earlier in 2025.

Earlier this month, Nintendo said it would make an announcement about a successor to its Switch console before March 2025.