Highlights
- Rockstar and Take-Two haven’t announced a release date or business model for the next iteration of GTA Online.
- GTA 6 remains scheduled for Nov. 19, 2026, after what Take-Two called an “exceptional” start to pre-orders.
- Take-Two generated $5.20 billion from recurrent consumer spending in fiscal 2026, underscoring the importance of live-service revenue to its business.
Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games are keeping one of Grand Theft Auto VI’s biggest questions unanswered: what happens to GTA Online.
Rockstar hasn’t announced a release date, pricing model or other details for a multiplayer component tied to GTA 6, even as the single-player game approaches its Nov. 19 launch. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier said recently that Rockstar isn’t planning to discuss what the new GTA Online will look like “anytime soon.” Schreier didn’t say the multiplayer component had been delayed or provide a prospective release date.
The silence comes as Take-Two prepares for what could be its biggest release. GTA 6 pre-orders opened June 25, with the standard edition priced at $79.99 and the Ultimate Edition at $99.99. The game is scheduled for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on Nov. 19. Rockstar hasn’t announced a PC version.
Take-Two Chief Executive Strauss Zelnick said during the company's latest earnings update that GTA 6 had an “exceptional start to pre-orders.” The publisher nevertheless maintained its fiscal 2027 net-bookings forecast of $8 billion to $8.2 billion, citing what Zelnick called a high degree of confidence in the November release.
That caution is notable given the importance of recurring spending to Take-Two. The company generated $6.66 billion in net revenue during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026. Of that, $5.20 billion, or 78.1%, came from recurrent consumer spending such as virtual currency, add-on content, in-game purchases and advertising. Full-game and other revenue totaled $1.46 billion.
GTA Online Remains a Major Business for Take-Two
The existing GTA Online remains a meaningful part of that business. Take-Two said recurrent consumer spending across the Grand Theft Auto series rose 3% in its latest quarter, while GTA+ continued to perform strongly. Rockstar also released the Kortz Center Heist for GTA Online in July.
Zelnick has also said Take-Two expects to continue supporting the current GTA Online after GTA 6 arrives. The company continues to devote significant resources to the service and doesn’t expect its update cadence to change materially, he said following Take-Two’s August earnings report.
A staggered multiplayer launch wouldn’t be unusual for Rockstar. Grand Theft Auto V launched on Sept. 17, 2013, while GTA Online followed on Oct. 1. But Rockstar hasn’t said it will repeat that strategy with GTA 6, meaning anything from a launch-day release to a months-later rollout remains speculative.
The eventual business model is similarly unclear. Rockstar could bundle the multiplayer component with GTA 6, offer it separately or use another structure. The company has precedent for separating the products: a standalone version of the existing GTA Online launched for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in 2022.
Rockstar also owns Cfx.re, the team behind the FiveM and RedM role-playing platforms, after acquiring the developer in 2023. That gives Rockstar technology and expertise around community-run multiplayer experiences, but there is no evidence that the next GTA Online will adopt FiveM’s dedicated-server model.
For now, the clearest signal is what Rockstar hasn’t said. With roughly three months until GTA 6 launches, the company is marketing the single-player game while leaving its multiplayer strategy, and one of Take-Two’s potentially most valuable long-term revenue opportunities, unannounced.
