Rockstar says the next game after GTA VI should not take another eight years

Rockstar is not promising a release date for whatever comes after Grand Theft Auto VI, but it is promising a shorter wait than the last gap. In Bloomberg's long report on making GTA VI, technical lead Phil Hooker said the engine, tools and team built for this project "will allow us to do things more quickly," The Verge reports.

Why that matters

GTA VI took about eight years. Between it and GTA V sits a 13-year gap. Hooker pointed to the one-year jump from Grand Theft Auto III to Vice City, when Rockstar already had the framework ready, and said he feels confident the studio can build "more sideways than upwards" on top of GTA VI.

Other details from the report

• An NPC-focused studio was spun up after Rockstar realised it lacked production capacity for the game's characters — a factor in the delay.
• Publishing head Jennifer Kolbe rejected a claim that development cost more than Dubai's Burj Khalifa; the report says the game did not cost more than $1.5 billion.
• Headcount rose from 2,441 in 2018 to 4,711 across 12 offices.
• GTA VI still launches 19 November 2026 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Our take

"Faster next time" is marketing-friendly, but the quote is specific: shared tech and a larger staff, not a surprise sequel announcement. Treat it as a process claim until Rockstar names the next project.