GTA 6 Review Embargo: How Rockstar Has Timed Reviews From GTA 4 to RDR2

When will GTA 6 reviews go live? Rockstar hasn’t said. Insider Gaming reported on October 14 that reviews will land before the November 19 launch, but it didn’t share the date. What we can show is how Rockstar has handled review embargoes for its last big launches. They’ve almost always lifted a day or two early, with one notable exception.

GTA 4 (2008): two days early

Rockstar announced GTA 4 was “now available worldwide” on April 29, 2008 (Official). Two days earlier, Engadget wrote that “today at around 12 noon eastern time the Grand Theft Auto IV review embargo will be lifted,” and noted the game already had a 100 average on Metacritic from four early reviews (Reported).

GTA 5 (2013): the day before

On September 16, 2013, IBTimes wrote that although GTA 5 “won’t be officially released until Sept. 17, full reviews of the game are already coming in en masse” (Reported). IGN’s review, dated September 16, gave it a 10 and called it “one of the very best video games ever made.” Eurogamer called it “a welcome overreaction” (Reported).

GTA 5 on PS4 and Xbox One (2014): the day before again

Take-Two set the PS4 and Xbox One release for November 18, 2014 (Official). IGN’s review is dated November 17 and says Rockstar “has done an outstanding job of updating this still-amazing game” (Reported).

Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018): one day, announced a week out

The Express, citing a Metacritic tweet, reported that the RDR2 embargo would lift on Thursday, October 25 at 4:01 a.m. Pacific, which is 7:01 a.m. ET, a day before the October 26 launch (Reported). IGN gave it a 10 and called it “Rockstar’s greatest achievement to date.”

The exception: GTA 5 on PS5 and Xbox Series (2022)

GTA 5 and GTA Online came out on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on March 15, 2022 (Official, PlayStation Blog). Reviews didn’t come first that time. Digital Foundry’s March 18 analysis said: “we only received code the day before release - and this work takes time.” Push Square’s review went up March 16 (Reported). That was a re-release, not a new game.

What Take-Two has said

We found no Take-Two earnings-call remarks about GTA 6 review copies or embargo timing. The closest is Strauss Zelnick on November 6, 2025: “the Metacritic scores of Rockstar releases are generally speaking … with very few exceptions, have been over 95” (Official, call transcript). Take-Two reports again on November 9 at 4:30 p.m. ET, its last scheduled call before launch.

What we don’t know

• The GTA 6 embargo date and time (Not confirmed).
• When review code goes out, and to whom (Not confirmed).

More: GTA 6 reviews hub.

Official Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 1, Rockstar Games.