Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser predicts GTA VI will break GTA V record, shares one-word reason why

Grand Theft Auto is one of the highest-selling video game franchises of all time and is gearing up for its next release, GTA VI. The Rockstar property is certainly big business, and co-founder Dan Houser recently gave his thoughts on the highly anticipated release of the next game in the series.

While on the most recent episode of the Lex Friedman podcast, Houser offered his views on a variety of topics, including GTA VI, Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar’s future, and the overall landscape of the future of gaming. In GTA VI, Dan Houser shared the following thoughts on why the company’s upcoming title is going to smash previously held sales records when prompted by the host.

Friedman posed,

“I think GTA V had the biggest launch in video game history and GTA VI has the potential to topping that. First of all, do you think it will? And more broadly what was your definition of success for a video game?”

To which Houser responded,

“I would assume it will because it so anticipated and anticipation is the best driver of early sales.”

As of this report, GTA VI is scheduled to release on May 26, 2026.

GTA VI - Everything we know so far

Based on IGN reports, development on GTA VI began “in earnest” in 2020. Its production was fast-tracked following the success of another sequel, Red Dead Redemption 2, a title that launched in 2018.

Currently, reports claim that GTA VI has already amassed development costs exceeding an estimated $1 billion, making it the most expensive video game of all time. Rockstar parent company Take-Two asserted the following justification for production delays and overall costs in official financial reports, which surfaced online.

The reports claim, “affording Rockstar additional time for such a groundbreaking project is a worthy investment,” as the property “is now the most anticipated entertainment property of all time.”

To that point, according to official metrics, the GTA VI Trailer 2 debuted to over 475 million views in 24 hours across platforms. This eclipsed the previous record substantially. For reference, Trailer 1 for GTA VI attracted 93 million views in the first 24 hours on YouTube alone.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick shared the following thoughts with IGN,

“The ambition and complexity of Grand Theft Auto VI is greater than any previous Rockstar title, and the team is poised to release another astonishing entertainment experience that will exceed players’ expectations.”

While eager gamers clamor for their return to Vice City, it's encouraging to hear that the company is seemingly proud of what they've brought to the table with GTA VI.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback