We Shouldn't Be Surprised GTA 6 Was Delayed, Rockstar Has a Long History of Doing Just That

Take a heavy enactment and remember: Delays are good.

OK, that connection isn’t always true, but it usually is. Delayed projects sometimes effect successful atrocious games (looking astatine you, Duke Nukem 3D), but overmuch much often taking much clip produces bully stuff. Spending meticulous weeks to get thing conscionable close matters successful art, arsenic does uncovering the bravery to propulsion retired ideas that seemed omniscient successful conception but ne'er panned out. Think astir however galore half-finished games you’ve ever bought and played and past wished the steadfast had conscionable delayed until it was close and ready. Got that thought successful your head? OK, clasp onto it.

GTA 6 is delayed, and that’s good, due to the fact that it volition astir apt beryllium amended for the delay.

Rockstar has a agelong past of delaying games to marque definite they’re acceptable for market, a strikingly accordant spot of subject that places them alongside Nintendo successful an elite fraternity of studios that hold until the casserole is afloat cooked earlier serving. And boy, is it ever delicious.

I’ve been playing GTA games arsenic agelong arsenic they’ve been around, starting with four-player PC GTA LAN parties. I’ve played the astir obscure (London 1969), the champion (GTA V), and the existent champion (Chinatown Wars for DS). I’ve ransacked and crashed and changeable my mode done these goofy, fantastic worlds for decades. And thankfully, these games are practically ever late... and not coincidentally, ever great. Here’s each hold successful GTA past (and immoderate Red Dead too).

Grand Theft Auto III

Rockstar’s New York offices were located lone a fewer blocks from the World Trade Center, and Take Two didn’t discarded immoderate clip concisely delaying GTA III pursuing the September 11 attacks. . Marketing VP Terry Donovan announced the hold lone days aft the tragedy:

"Our determination is based connected 2 factors, firstly it has been a small hard to get enactment done successful downtown Manhattan successful the past week since basal communications infrastructure has been intermittent astatine best, and secondly we felt that a afloat contented reappraisal of each our titles and the selling materials we usage to correspond them was perfectly indispensable for america successful airy of the horrifying lawsuit we each witnessed successful the United States past week.”

He continued: "As for Grand Theft Auto, since the crippled is truthful immense the reappraisal is nary abbreviated process. So acold we person travel crossed definite tiny contextual references that we were nary longer comfy with, arsenic good arsenic a mates of precise uncommon gameplay instances that nary longer felt due to us. We apologize to you and each the radical waiting for this crippled to vessel for the delays that person present ensued, but I'm definite you tin recognize our reasoning. Rest assured the crippled volition beryllium phenomenal...and you tin expect it to deed shelves successful precocious October.”

Even with lone minimal contented changes, the hold was a omniscient determination for Rockstar and players alike. Blasting cops and ambulances successful Liberty City truthful soon aft the convulsive deaths of thousands wouldn’t person been appealing to anybody.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

The co-prize for shortest hold is shared betwixt Vice City and San Andreas. Back successful the olden days earlier downloadable crippled stores and day-one patches, manufacturers guessed up of clip conscionable however overmuch of a carnal merchandise they’d request to nutrient for a fixed support date, and sometimes they guessed wrong. Rockstar delayed Vice City by 7 days to springiness them clip to manufacture much discs (and frankincense conscionable the tremendous day-one request for a GTA III follow-up).

San Andreas for PS2 besides deed streets a week aboriginal than planned, a strategical determination designed to springiness the dev squad a fewer other days to polish their two-year project.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

Okay, truthful existent talk: The GTA handheld games spell hard... hard capable that it’s worthy dusting disconnected your past PlayStation Portable oregon DS to effort them. GTA’s fantabulous forays onto portables usually get connected time, but Vice City Stories for PSP was delayed for 2 weeks successful North America, and longer successful parts of Europe.

The champion GTA of them each (fight me!) didn’t get precisely connected time. The incredibly originative and intricate DS gamechit shelves 2 months aboriginal than expected. When it did yet arrive, it blew the socks disconnected of critics, and it’s 1 of gaming’s large tragedies that cipher bought it... we mightiness beryllium playing Chinatown Wars 3 connected our caller Switch 2s close present if they had.

Grand Theft Auto IV

After GTA III changed the scenery of video games, anticipation for GTA IV was palpable. With clunky RenderWare near down and a marque caller console procreation to enactment with, Rockstar Leeds was aiming for the stratosphere. Bringing their imaginativeness to world yet demanded respective months of delay.

As Rockstar’s Sam Hause explained, “The caller consoles [PS3 and 360] are allowing america to make the Grand Theft Auto crippled we ever dreamed about. Every facet of the crippled and its plan has been wholly transformed. The crippled is immense and is pushing the hardware platforms to their implicit limits. The apical engineers from Sony and Microsoft are moving intimately with the squad successful Edinburgh close now, helping america to afloat leverage the powerfulness of some platforms. As always, our extremity is to surpass adjacent the wildest expectations of the game's fans, and to make the eventual precocious explanation video crippled experience."

Grand Theft Auto V

The biggest console crippled of each clip was a agelong clip coming. GTA V yet landed successful September 2013, but was primitively anticipated to get successful the outpouring of that aforesaid year. But successful precocious January 2013, Rockstar released the pursuing message:

“We cognize this is astir 4 months aboriginal than primitively planned and we cognize that this abbreviated hold volition travel arsenic a disappointment to galore of you, but, spot us, it volition beryllium worthy the other time. GTAV is simply a massively ambitious and analyzable crippled and it simply needs a small much polish to beryllium of the modular we and, much importantly, you require. ‘To each Grand Theft Auto fans, delight judge our apologies for the delay, and our committedness that the full squad present is moving precise hard to marque the crippled each it tin be. We are doing each we tin to assistance guarantee it volition conscionable if not transcend your expectations travel September – we convey you for your enactment and patience.’"

They weren't wrong. GTA V went connected to go the astir palmy console crippled of each time, and alongside RDR2, it’s a existent jewel successful Rockstar’s crown.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Speaking of RDR2... it’s not a portion of the GTA series, but it is Rockstar’s champion crippled and I emotion talking astir it. In keeping with the contented of Rockstar quality-based delays, we’re adding a spot of an appendix by mentioning Red Dead Redemption 2, which was delayed twice, archetypal successful outpouring 2017 for prime assurance purposes. The 2nd hold came successful February 2018, pushing RDR2 to precocious October. The connection from Rockstar explained that, again, this was a prime issue.

"We are excited to denote that Red Dead Redemption 2 volition beryllium released connected October 26th 2018. We apologize to everyone disappointed by this delay. While we had hoped to person the crippled retired sooner, we necessitate a small other clip for polish.

“We sincerely convey you for your patience and anticipation that erstwhile you get to play the game, you volition hold the hold volition person been worthy it. In the meantime, delight cheque retired these screenshots from the game. We look guardant to sharing a batch much accusation with you successful the coming weeks."

That delay, similar each the others here, worked retired swimmingly, delivering a existent enactment of creation inactive unparalleled successful escapade gaming.

So friends, don’t despair. GTA 6 volition come, and erstwhile it comes, it volition astir surely beryllium very, precise good. See you successful Vice City.

Jared Petty is simply a erstwhile IGN exertion who likes penning astir however fantastic and silly video games are. You tin find him astatine Bluesky arsenic pettycommajared.