GTA 6 release to face delay amid SAG-AFTRA strike?

Fans began speculating about a possible delay in the release of Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 6 after SAG-AFTRA announced going on a strike in the United States.

Several US media outlets reported that video game actors will go on strike from July 26 after Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) made the call following disputes with several different publishers regarding AI-related protections.

However, Kotaku quoted several publishers including Rockstar Games’ parent company Take-Two Interactive that the highly-anticipated GTA 6 will not be affected by the strike.

“I can confirm GTA 6 is exempt,” the publication quoted an official of the publisher as saying.

According to the report, the games that were in development before September 2023 will not be affected by the SAG-AFTRA strike.

“Due to certain provisions in the IMA [Interactive Media Agreement] contract, games that were in production at the time that the union provided the company its notice of termination are not currently subject to strike order. Most notices were sent in September 2022,” SAG-AFTRA said in a statement.

Take-Two Interactive in its earnings call in May announced that Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 6 will be released in the Fall of 2025.

The trailer for the upcoming title was released in December 2023, showing that the game will be set in fictional Vice City, reminiscent of Miami, and appeared to feature the first playable female character in the franchise.

Since then, the game’s publisher has maintained a silence about the features of the game or the release date of the second trailer.

Earlier, one of the developers, who worked at Rockstar Games, left fans concerned about GTA 6 by predicting that the upcoming title might not be much different from GTA 5.

“I don’t think it’s going to be wildly different from GTA V, I think maybe people might be a little disappointed on the first day. But it’s still gonna be the best game out there,” he said during a recent interview.