Rockstar announced a delay, but their GTA 6 art still says 'coming 2025'

Following months of silence, Rockstar Games eventually announced that Grand Theft Auto VI is no longer coming out in 2025. Rather, the highly anticipated game has been rescheduled for May 26, 2026. But in a bizarre turn of events, all of Rockstar's key platforms, including YouTube, Twitter, and the official GTA 6 website, continue to display the original artwork boldly stating: "Coming 2025."


Rockstar delays GTA 6, but keeps old 2025 artwork live




Rockstar's communication about the delay has been surprisingly incoherent. The announcement, published on a random Friday, confirmed the game's slip to 2026 but provided no new trailer, no new screenshots, and, strangely, no new promotional material. The same "Coming 2025" key art that was used to reveal the game in December 2023 is still intact on Rockstar's digital platforms.


This is highly uncharacteristic for the company. In the past, Rockstar has softened blowback from delays with slick new visuals or trailers. The absence of any such update here has left fans speculating: was this announcement rushed? Did Rockstar simply not have time to prepare new assets? Or is something bigger coming soon?


To further compound the confusion, the delay announcement was released shortly after a UK bank holiday. With GTA 6 officially confirmed for May 26, 2026, the timing of the release had fans confused as to why Rockstar hadn't revised its marketing materials. Rockstar's marketing efforts are based in the UK, so their teams wouldn't be in until Tuesday, following the long weekend. Even taking this into account, it still seems strange that they did not have any updates lined up for such a significant release. Nevertheless, fans anticipated such a multinational company to be prepared with new materials, particularly for a flagship title like GTA 6.


Is a new trailer or media drop on the horizon?


There could be a strategic motive behind Rockstar's silence. The parent company of the firm, Take-Two Interactive, will report quarterly earnings on May 15. Perhaps Rockstar made the announcement of the delay ahead of time, so the share price can stabilize before releasing new footage or screenshots that might create renewed hype and temper investor concerns.


Others think that fresh artwork, this time with the caption "Coming May 26, 2026", will fall with a second trailer or gameplay announcement. If so, this might be the reason that no visual tweaks have been observed yet. This would also align with Rockstar's typical strategy of timing significant beats around monetary milestones.


Though the delay in itself wasn't surprising, the lack of new artwork has surprised most fans. Whether it was a mistake or an intentional marketing tactic is uncertain. One thing, however, is certain, if Rockstar is hiding a big reveal, it had better drop it soon.


Also Read: Fans spot Bonnie and Clyde connection in GTA 6’s May 26 release