I worked at 2k when they first started making this game back in 2017 - and I worked in VERY close proximity to the studio making this game.
So bullshit. Its taking so long because take two is run by indecisive, cheap, executives who have pretty much taken the studio that was making it, based in Novato, CA - KILLED IT - and moved almost the entirety of production over to Canada because its cheaper.
Its taking a long time because it takes a long time to kill a team, remake a team, and then restart production from the ground up. Pipelines take years, and in most cases, multiple titles to optimize/streamline. The executives running this show can't decide what to do with the game and they have already basically killed an entire team in order to reform it in a cheaper country. These are executives that just do not know how to let a team run itself. They are far too hands on and they don't know shit about actual production.
Take two also basically gutted the other studio they had in Novato, Hangar 13, which was working on a 3rd person action RPG code named VOLT. They worked on that game for around NINE YEARS. Before completely cancelling it. (Does anyone know what its like to work on something for nine years and have absolutely NOTHING to show for it?) But before they cancelled it they layed off the team that was working on it multiple times in order to move Hangar 13 from its primary location of Novato, CA over to, in large part, the czech republic, and UK. Both places substantially cheaper for making games.
The czech republic is actually the boom town of the game industry right now because its so fucking cheap. So many game studios have been made and reformed over there.
And people wonder why so many US game devs are being laid off. Its all executive greed. All of it. -- And if you believe this is taking so long solely because of "Quality" - you are kidding yourself.