Bloomberg's Jason Schreier published a long feature on October 14, summarized by VGTimes, drawing on interviews with Rockstar leadership. Development leads Rob Nelson, Aaron Garbut and Phil Hooker described a project that began around 2015 as 'Project Americas', was narrowed to Vice City and its surroundings, and was pushed back by the team's move onto Red Dead Redemption 2. Rockstar's headcount has roughly doubled since 2018, to 4,711 across 12 offices, and a Los Angeles studio now handles much of the NPC work.
Publishing head Jennifer Kolbe dismissed the widely repeated claim that the budget topped $1.5 billion, though Rockstar did not give an actual figure. The piece also covers the August 2026 leak, the five-day in-office policy, and the tribunal case over the 2025 firing of 34 staff, with a ruling reportedly expected in late October. It announces no new delay, price or edition change, and PC remains unannounced.
Why it matters: it is the most detailed on-the-record look at Rockstar's process before launch, and it reconfirms November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Nothing here changes pre-order prices, editions or stock, so the tracker is unchanged.