when did gta 6 start development

Grand Theft Auto 6’s development can be thought of in phases : early concept/pre-production work reportedly began sometime in the mid‑2010s, while full, large‑scale development ramped up after Red Dead Redemption 2, with company leadership describing work beginning “in earnest” around 2020. By the time of the current 2026 release target, that puts the project at roughly 6–8 years of substantial development, depending on whether you count early planning or only full production.

Key timeline in simple terms

• Early ideas / pre‑production:
  Various reports and community reconstructions suggest Rockstar began experimenting with concepts for GTA 6 (often tied to “Project Americas”) as early as around 2014, in parallel with Red Dead Redemption 2’s development. This phase typically includes world concepts, story directions, and high‑level design, rather than full content production.

• Post‑RDR2 ramp‑up (2018–2019):
  After Red Dead Redemption 2 released in 2018, developers started moving onto GTA 6, with former staff and community timelines indicating active work from late 2018 onward. During this period, the team appears to have transitioned from planning and prototyping into broader production tasks like environment building and motion capture.

• Full development “in earnest” (around 2020):
  Take‑Two’s CEO has publicly stated that GTA 6 began development “in earnest” in 2020, a phrase generally taken to mean full‑scale production with most of the team focused on the project. This aligns with other commentary that distinguishes earlier pre‑production from the later, more intense development push leading up to the currently targeted 2026 launch window.

Why answers differ

• Different definitions of “start”:
  Some sources treat the first design talks and concept work as the start of development, which leads to dates around 2014. Others, including company leadership, anchor the “real” start to when full production and large teams were committed, putting the key date at about 2020.

• Internal changes and re‑scoping:
  Reports and forum breakdowns mention design changes, reshaped scope, and internal shifts (like scaling back the original “Project Americas” plans), which can make the early timeline look messy and stretched. These restarts and refocusing periods mean that even if work technically began earlier, much of what players will actually see may come from the post‑2018/2019 production push.

Quick takeaway

• If the question is “When did GTA 6 development first begin at all?” → mid‑2010s pre‑production is a reasonable answer (around 2014).

• If the question is “When did GTA 6 enter full development?” → company statements point to development beginning “in earnest” in 2020, after Red Dead Redemption 2.

Bottom note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.