Rockstar says its post-GTA 6 games won't take eight years to make

Rockstar Games leadership says its next project will not take as long as Grand Theft Auto 6. According to GamesIndustry.biz, which reported on a Bloomberg interview with the studio's senior staff, Rockstar more than doubled its headcount to make the game.

What we know

The figures Rockstar shared, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz:

• The studio had 2,441 employees when Red Dead Redemption 2 launched in 2018.
• By 2026 it employed 4,711 people across 12 offices.
• Of those, 4,020 work in development and QA, and 690 work in publishing.

Rockstar's leadership described GTA 6 as a base the studio can use to produce new content faster. Co-head of development Phil Hooker said "The engine, the tools and the team we've built during this project will allow us to do things more quickly." He added that he expects the studio to expand outward from that foundation rather than starting again from the ground up.

The interview also covered the game's two delays. GTA 6 was announced in 2023 with a 2025 target. It then moved to May 26, 2026, and later to its current release date of November 19, 2026. Head of publishing Jennifer Kolbe said Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick's first reaction to the news was "You're kidding. Please tell me you're kidding." She said he came around once the team explained its reasons. Kolbe also credited Zelnick for not pushing the studio to ship an unfinished game, which she said happens to many other teams.

Zelnick had earlier told GamesIndustry.biz that he was not worried about the delays' effect on the business. He said extra polish time sometimes comes up across Take-Two's labels, and that the game would still release in the same fiscal year.

The interview also touched on security. GamesIndustry.biz notes that Rockstar ended remote work in April 2024 after a 2022 network intrusion. Kolbe suggested that having the game spread across many home setups would not sit well with the security team.

What isn't confirmed yet

Rockstar did not say what its next game is, when development on it might finish, or how much faster it expects the work to go. The "won't take eight years" framing is a statement of intent from the studio's leadership, not a timeline.