Grand Theft Auto fans are reacting in shock and relief after today's surprise announcement that GTA 6 pre-orders will begin next week — all but confirming that the game won't get delayed once more.

Fans have waited two console generations for a new GTA, and in recent years been left hanging while Rockstar continually pushed back its next blockbuster's launch — again, and again.

Online, there has still been plenty of scepticism that the game would actually arrive this November — even after assurances from Strauss Zelnick, boss of Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive — that the game's marketing would begin this summer. (And yes, it is now summer.)

Indeed, despite all this, so-called GTA 6 "Doomers" have been insistent that Rockstar still wouldn't be ready to launch GTA 6 this year. Today's cover reveal and pre-order announcement changes all that, however — and many other fans are now taking it as a win.

"No more Doomers talking about delays and s***," wrote ZOoNeR_ in a celebratory thread on reddit. "November 19 is locked in." "I believe there still will be a delay," replied Poppitive, "a delay in me seeing my friends, family and wife when this masterpiece releases." "I saw a Doomer fall to their knees in the Walmart parking lot," quipped NoSxKats. "I'm legit crying," stated another person.

Alongside speculation of another scrubbed launch, pessimistic fans have also been fretting over GTA 6's price — which some analysts have suggested could arrive as costly as $100. This seems unlikely, however. Even at $70, GTA 6 seems certain to make back its admittedly huge development costs thanks to the unparalleled hype around the game, as well as Rockstar's ability to still wring money from GTA 5 over a decade later — something its sequel will surely seek to emulate.

Next week's opening of pre-orders will see that price finally revealed, something fans are also feeling relieved about. "Not only are we one week from pre-orders, we are also one week from never hearing a GTA 6 pricing rumor again," wrote Coltyn03.

"Pricing rumors were not a problem at all compared to the constant failed conspiracy theories and rumors that people shared daily here," wrote hellotheregame. "Hopefully we'll have info about Trailer 3 soon so such posts may stop for good."

While some details will soon be certain, however, it wouldn't be GTA without some fans spending hours seeing patterns somewhere.

"We're also zero days from the start of 1,000 posts about the iris shape of the crocodile's eyes in the cover art and whether this corresponds to the expected framerate," wrote Historical_Leg5998. Likely also true.

For detailed analysis of today's new GTA 6 cover art, IGN has you covered, with every detail examined. GTA 6 is set to launch on November 19, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, and we'll be keeping up with everything leading up its release.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social