The launch of Hollow Knight: Silksong had some serious hiccups, and it's a good indication that there will likely be some major problems when the Grand Theft Auto 6 release date finally rolls around. Grand Theft Auto 6 is potentially the most highly-anticipated new video game release of all time. Coming a staggering 13 years after the launch of the previous game, GTA 6 hype is through the roof, to put it mildly.
Grand Theft Auto 6 has been breaking records before it's even out, with millions of people rushing to watch the two trailers that have been released so far. Rockstar has managed to keep interest in Grand Theft Auto 6 sky-high despite revealing very little about the game, and could likely keep quiet about it between now and launch and still put out what may potentially become the best-selling video game of all time. The two trailers have revealed the main characters of GTA 6, what the new version of Vice City looks like, and some members of the supporting cast.
GTA 6 Trailer 2 Recreated in Grand Theft Auto 5
A dedicated and creative fan recreates Grand Theft Auto 6's new trailer entirely in Grand Theft Auto 5, and the results are incredible.
Silksong Crashed Storefronts, But GTA 6 Will Draw Even More Players
Anticipation for Grand Theft Auto 6 is unprecedented. However, another game with a huge amount of pre-release hype recently released, with Hollow Knight: Silksong finally launching for digital platforms six years after it was first announced. The Silksong launch managed to crash Steam, Xbox Game Pass, the Switch eShop, and the PlayStation Store, with some people unable to get the game on their platform of choice for a couple of hours. Seeing what the Silksong hype did to digital storefronts, it seems like a safe bet that the outages will be even worse when the Grand Theft Auto 6 release date rolls around on May 26, 2026.
Besides the fact that Grand Theft Auto 6 is an even bigger game than Silksong in terms of sheer hype, its players will also be far more concentrated. Silksong players were spread out across PC, Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation. Grand Theft Auto 6 is skipping PC at launch, meaning that it will only be available on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. While it's possible that some kind of preventive measures will be taken to ensure a smooth launch, chances are that PS5 and Xbox gamers can expect some issues on May 26, 2026.
What will really be interesting to see is how the GTA 6 online mode performs out of the gate. Rockstar has kept tight-lipped about the GTA 6 online multiplayer experience so far, but considering the sheer amount of money GTA Online made, it's 100% on the way. Those that were around for the GTA 5 launch can likely recall just how difficult it was to play online at launch because of technical problems, but here's hoping Rockstar learned from those missteps and the entire GTA 6 launch experience goes smoothly.
OpenCritic Reviews
- Released
- November 19, 2026
- ESRB
- Rating Pending - Likely Mature 17+
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar Games
- Publisher(s)
- Rockstar Games
