Insider Reveals Jaw-Dropping Amount 'GTA 6' Delays Cost Rockstar Games Per Month

Grand Theft Auto 6 has been pushed back again, with a new release date of November 19, 2026. While that second delay came with plenty of frustration, it also came with a massive price tag. According to Insider Gaming reporter Tom Henderson, the extra six months are costing Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive around $10 million per month in additional development expenses. That’s about $60 million just to keep things going, before you even factor in salaries, overhead, and the rest of the business costs.

Once you add it all up, some analysts think the real cost of the GTA 6 delay could exceed $100 million. Others go even further and estimate that the total impact could reach up to $500 million, including lost revenue and changes to the marketing plan. Even so, Rockstar is sticking to its line that the extra time is needed to “finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve.”

$10 Million Per Month: The Staggering Cost of GTA 6's Six-Month Delay

Henderson broke down these numbers on a previous episode of his Insider Gaming Weekly podcast. He said he spoke with a video game developer who estimated the delay is costing Take-Two about $10 million more per month. Over the six months from May to November 2026, that works out to $60 million in direct development costs alone. But Henderson made it clear that’s only part of the story. Once you roll in salaries, day‑to‑day operations, and everything else that comes with running a company of this size, he admits that the total is probably closer to $100 million.

That number aligns with how big this project already is, considering Grand Theft Auto VI's total development budget is reportedly around $2 billion, making it one of the most expensive entertainment projects ever. To put it into perspective, that number soars past massive Hollywood films like Avengers: Endgame, which cost about $356 million.

A big reason the monthly burn rate is so high is Rockstar’s scale. The studio has more than 6,000 developers spread across offices in New York, Edinburgh, London, San Diego, New England, Leeds, Lincoln, and India, all working on GTA 6, and understandably so.

While the reports signal that the game is already effectively complete, meaning the story, missions, and core gameplay are done, that hasn't been the reason for the delay. After the most recent pushback, the company said it decided to fix bugs, improve performance, and polish things to be fully ahead of technical issues or anything that's not as close to perfect as imaginable.

Some experts think that when evaluating lost revenue from pushing back the release date, adjustments to the marketing campaign, and the wider ripple effects across the industry, the total cost of this delay could climb even higher. Still, Rockstar seems willing to take that hit rather than ship something that feels unfinished and risk long‑term damage to the GTA brand.

Why Rockstar Is Willing to Absorb the Massive Cost to Delay GTA 6

A number of industry analysts agree that, as expensive as it sounds, delaying the game is probably the safer move. Director of Executive Education at the University Campus of Football Business in London, Rob Wilson, told Video Gamer that accepting what he described as a potential half‑billion‑dollar impact from the delay could actually be cheaper in the long run than releasing GTA 6 too early. Rockstar’s reputation is a huge part of its business, and putting out a broken or undercooked game could do more harm than a single costly delay.

That reputation was built over years of releasing polished, generation‑defining titles. GTA 5 alone has sold more than 200 million copiessince its 2013 launch, making it arguably the most profitable entertainment product ever.

The new launch date of November 19, 2026, also has some strategic upside. It drops the game right in the middle of the holiday season, which is typically the year's strongest sales window. That timing alone could help offset some of the financial hit from the delay.

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