The second most popular game ever, following Minecraft, is Grand Theft Auto V. The game is known for its fun missions and the ability to do whatever one pleases, including stealing cars, flying planes and other illegal activities that are not traditionally condoned by gaming. Grand Theft Auto V came out in 2013 and generated over one billion dollars in revenue after three days post-release.
After GTA 5 thrived for a decade, Rockstar Games decided that it was about time for a sequel.
A rumored budget of over three billion dollars for GTA 6 – a significantly larger amount than the 265 million dollar budget for GTA 5 – left many fans of the franchise desperate for the new installment.
However, such fans were and are still waiting impatiently and after an official release date for the game was pushed back many times, now arriving in November of 2026.
Senior Jackson O’Melia is among many eagerly waiting for the release of the game. “I am pretty disappointed in the fact that it hasn’t gotten released, but we have known about it for the last six or seven years, and I’m excited to play the new version,” O’Melia said.
Many other PV students, like senior Sam Boyer, echo that sentiment: “I’m upset that the game has not come out because they announced it when I was in sixth grade, and now I’m graduating high school and still do not have the game,” said Boyer. His comment highlights a major point of grievance among the slew of complaints about GTA 6: the initial release date was made public too early in the game’s production timeline, creating fruitless anticipation for a game that clearly needed more time to be hashed out.
Coping with the mystery that was GTA 6’s actual release in stores, the internet came up with Society has come to set a trend based on their grievances with the game’s release timeline of the delayed start of GTA 6.
On TikTok and Instagram, people have made jokes regarding how big historical and societal shifts were all happening before the release of the video game. Some particularly crazy metrics include Apple releasing new phones and there having been 3 new U.S. presidents all before the official release of GTA 6.
O’Melia gave his thoughts on the popularized joke format of “Event that has happened before GTA 6”. “I feel that the cultural joke isn’t even a joke anymore because I might end up having a wife and kids before this game actually comes out,” he said.
While O’melia and other fans of the franchise try to make light of the situation, it is clear that patience among the fan base is running thin. Hype around a single game can only be built up for so long; come November of this year, GTA 6 will either finally hit shelves or hit fans with the final blow of disappointment.
