GTA 6: Everything we know about the next Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto is back, and it's heading to Vice City.
GTA 6 - one of the most hyped games in development right now - is finally on the horizon. Over 12 years after GTA 5 was unveiled, the eagerly anticipated first trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 was released in December 2023.
The highly anticipated reveal of the next GTA broke YouTube records, sending the hype levels for Rockstar's upcoming game sky high. Since that big reveal over a year ago news on GTA 6 has largely been thin on the ground. That was until May 2025 when Rockstar Games announced GTA 6 had been delayed, with the next Grand Theft Auto getting pushed back from a 2025 launch to May 2026.
If you want to catch up on everything related to GTA 6 ahead of its launch, then we're here to help. We've rounded up everything you need to know about GTA 6, including details on the exact release date, the platforms it will be coming to plus much more. If you want to know what the VG247 team wants from the next Grand Theft Auto game as well, then make sure you check out our GTA 6 wishlist too.
GTA 6 release date
It has been confirmed that the GTA 6 release date is 26 May 2026. The news was revealed in a newswire post by Rockstar Games which announced the game had been delayed from its initial release window of 2025.
When the very first - and so far only - GTA 6 trailer was revealed in December 2023, it announced the game was scheduled to launch in 2025. However, later on as we approached the halfway point in 2025 Rockstar Games announced the next Grand Theft Auto had been delayed to deliver the "level of quality you expect and deserve".
In a statement Rockstar Games said: "Hi everyone, Grand Theft Auto VI is now set to release on May 26, 2026.
"We are very sorry that this is later than you expected. The interest and excitement surrounding a new Grand Theft Auto has been truly humbling for our entire team. We want to thank you for your support and your patience as we work to finish the game.
"With every game we have released, the goal has always been to try and exceed your expectations, and Grand Theft Auto VI is no exception. We hope you understand that we need this extra time to deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve.
"We look forward to sharing more information with you soon."
GTA 6 price rumours
Ever since the start of the ninth generation of consoles gamers in general have had to spend more if they want to get triple A releases at launch. But while for years these big releases have had $70 price tags as standard, it's predicted GTA 6 could push this even further. It has been claimed GTA 6 could end up costing $100 when the eagerly anticipated game finally launches.
That's according to Matthew Ball, the CEO of Epyllion, which is a firm that "provides investment and strategic advisory services, produces television, films, and video games". As revealed by VGC, in a report released towards the start of 2025 Ball claimed there is a "hope" within the videogame industry that the default price of GTA 6 will end up being $100, and that even at this price the hugely anticipated game would sell well. If that ends up being the case, it could lead to other publishers following that pricing for their games.
Whatever the price ends up being, it's expected that GTA 6 will bring in a staggering amount of sales. It has been predicted that GTA 6 could make a whopping $1 billion in pre-orders alone, and Circana analyst Mat Piscatella has claimed that GTA 6 could not only end up being the most important release in Take-Two's history, but the most important release in the history of gaming.
GTA 6 trailer 1
The first trailer for GTA 6 was revealed by Rockstar Games on Monday 4 December 2023. The eagerly anticipated teaser clocks in it at one minute and 30 seconds, making it longer than the reveal trailers for GTA 4, GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2.
You can watch the reveal trailer for GTA 6 below:
The first trailer confirms plenty of things about GTA 6. As widely rumored, the next Grand Theft Auto will be making a return to Vice City. It will be the first time the series has headed to this Miami-inspired location since 2006's Vice City Stories. The trailer also unveiled the series' first-ever female protagonist called Lucia. An unnamed male protagonist, who looks to have a Bonnie and Clyde-style relationship with Lucia, was also revealed.
Besides this, the trailer also showcased an in-game TikTok style social network, which not only indicates GTA 6 will have a modern setting, but that social media could play a part in the next Grand Theft Auto.
The GTA 6 trailer was published earlier than originally planned, after a version of it leaked on X, formerly known as Twitter. Not long after the leaked trailer emerged, Rockstar Games set the official teaser live and posted on X: "Our trailer has leaked so please watch the real thing on YouTube".
Despite getting released earlier than planned, the GTA 6 trailer quickly notched up millions of views and smashed YouTube records. Within 24 hours the GTA 6 trailer had been viewed 93 million times, and became the most viewed new game trailer on YouTube.
Discussing the milestone, Leo Olebe, the global head of YouTube Gaming, said: "The Grand Theft Auto series has been at the epicentre of entertainment for decades and we expect the YouTube community and its creators to reach new heights for years to come with Grand Theft Auto 6."
Olebe added: "Setting this new all-time record is a testament to the cultural impact of the series."
As of Friday 2 May 2025, the GTA 6 trailer has notched up over 251 million views on Rockstar's official YouTube channel. It is now the second-most watched video game trailer of all time on YouTube, ahead of Minecraft but behind Subway Surfers.
The record-breaking trailer featured Tom Petty's song 'Love is a Long Road' as the soundtrack, and the song received a massive 36,979% increase in plays on Spotify after the teaser was released. The trailer also appeared to recreate some real-life Florida moments in-game.
It's been over a year since the first GTA 6 trailer was released, with fans hoping a second trailer will be shared in the run-up to the game's eagerly anticipated launch date. At the end of 2024 internet sleuths thought a playlist update was a sign that the second GTA 6 trailer was due to be released soon, but that turned out to be a false alarm. While at the start of 2025 another fan theory emerged about when the next GTA 6 trailer will be released. If you're wondering why Rockstar has been so quiet on GTA 6 since the first trailer was released, one former GTA 5 dev said the radio silence builds "mystery" and excitement for the game.
In the run-up to the GTA 6 release date, and as fans waited for the second trailer, Rockstar Games released an enhanced version of GTA 5 for PC, which brought this build up to parity with the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Those consoles from Sony received a GTA 5 update which added ray-tracing and other enhancements years ago, with PC users finally getting an equivalent update in 2025. And as Digital Foundry explains, this update could hint at the features coming in GTA 6.
What platforms will GTA 6 be available on?
It has been confirmed that GTA 6 will launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2026. So, if you had been hoping GTA 6 would come to last-gen consoles like the PS4 and Xbox One you'll need to upgrade. This also means that, like with previous Grand Theft Auto games, GTA 6 has not been announced for PC at launch. However, an executive at PC gaming company Corsair expects GTA 6 to launch on PC as well. A representative for Corsair later issued a clarification to IGN, and said the exec was just speculating and the firm had not received release dates for the game supplied to it by Take-Two or Rockstar.
The reasons why GTA 6 looks to be skipping PC at launch was discussed by former Rockstar developer Mike York. Eurogamer reported that York, who previously worked on GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, said PC ports take longer to release because studios have to focus on "what sells".
York said: "Most of the time, especially in the past, PlayStation was the big seller. PlayStation was 'The Console' to have. It sold more copies than any other console for the most part, everybody's playing PlayStation. So, what the developer would do, they would focus all their energy on making sure the PlayStation port and the PlayStation game worked really good, right?"
While a PC version of GTA 6 hasn't been announced just yet, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said Rockstar will make more announcements "in due time". As VGC reported in May 2024, when Zelnick was asked about the possibility of GTA 6 coming to PC he said: "Rockstar has an approach to platforms which we’ve seen before, and they will make more announcements in due time. I do believe that the right strategy for our business is to be where the consumer is, and historically what this company has done is address consumers anywhere they are, on any platform that makes sense, over time."
This point was later reiterated in January 2025 when Zelnick was quizzed about whether GTA 6 not getting announced for PC at launch was a mistake. The Take-Two CEO said: "So with [Civilization 7] it's available on console and PC and Switch right away. With regard to others in our lineup, we don't always go across all platforms simultaneously. Historically, Rockstar has started with some platforms and then historically moved to other platforms."
In terms of other platforms GTA 6 could be available on, Nintendo fans may be hoping that Rockstar's next magnum opus will be heading to the Switch 2. However, our friends at Digital Foundry said it would be "very, very tricky" to get GTA 6 running on Nintendo's next console.
You can watch the Digital Foundry video where they discuss a possible Switch 2 port of GTA 6 below:
GTA 6 location
GTA 6 will be returning to Vice City, arguably the most beloved location of the influential trio of Grand Theft Auto games that launched on the PS2. When GTA 6 launches in 2026, it will also mean all of the locations from these iconic Grand Theft Auto games have since been revisited by Rockstar Games. Liberty City from GTA 3 was the location of GTA 4, while Los Santos from GTA: San Andreas was the setting of GTA 5.
Besides the highly anticipated return of Vice City though, it looks like there will be plenty of other areas for players to explore. In the official GTA 6 press release Take-Two said the next Grand Theft Auto will let players explore the state of Leonida, which is home to the "neon-soaked streets of Vice City and beyond".
GTA 6 map
While Vice City is the main location of GTA 6, it's rumored that parts of GTA 6 will take place in Cuba. This is according to a video posted by Tyler McVicker, a YouTuber known for his leaks about Half-Life makers Valve. The Cuba map is thought to tie into a rumored drug running plotline in GTA 6.
A report from Bloomberg published in July 2022 also claimed GTA 6 will take place in more than one location. And whatever map GTA 6 ends up launching with, it's rumored more cities and missions will get added regularly after launch, with the map getting expanded in a similar way to a live service game that grows and evolves as time goes on. GTA 6’s game world is expected to be bigger than ever, with "more interior locations than previous Grand Theft Auto games" as well.
As we wait to get our first official look at the GTA 6 map, cyber sleuths think they may have actually found the map hiding in the game's official artwork. Even if fans are onto something, we'll have to wait and see whether this is the full map or just a section of it.
GTA 6 leaks
Over the years there have been plenty of spurious rumors surrounding GTA 6, with alleged leaks emerging that turned out to be entirely bogus. But there are some high-profile leaks, and little snippets of information that have emerged like rapper and streamer T-Pain working on GTA 6. One of the biggest leaks to hit the next Grand Theft Auto actually impacted the game's big reveal, with the first trailer for GTA 6 getting leaked 14 hours before it was meant to be officially unveiled. A low resolution version of the highly anticipated reveal trailer was leaked on X, with Rockstar responding swiftly by publishing the official trailer not long afterwards.
A few days before the official GTA 6 reveal, a TikTok video claiming to show the "first look" at the next Grand Theft Auto also went viral. As we reported at the time, the video was posted by someone who claims to be friends with the son of a Rockstar Games employee. There is, however, no way to verify these claims, nor whether the footage shown that went viral is actually GTA 6, or just a heavily modded version of GTA 5.
Prior to these leaks, the most notable leak of them all came in September 2022 when GTA 6 was hit by a massive leak - with numerous pictures and gameplay videos of the next Grand Theft Auto leaking online. The footage that leaked was in-development, and it was published online after a network breach.
In the aftermath of the leak, Rockstar Games took to Twitter to address it. The GTA makers confirmed they had suffered a "network intrusion", and early development footage for the next Grand Theft Auto had been "illegally accessed".
As a sign of support, developers from across the industry went on to share their own pre-release builds to show early development footage isn't representative of what the final product ends up looking like. With leaks hitting the actual GTA 6 announcement and the pre-release build-up, now is a good time to check out Steve Burns' thoughts on what leaking in general can mean for the industry.
Days after the leaks emerged, a teenager in the UK was arrested. The teenager was later sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in December 2023.
GTA 6 protagonist
Since GTA 5 brought multiple protagonists to the series for the first time, it has long been rumored that Rockstar would adopt a similar approach in GTA 6. It was widely expected that the Grand Theft Auto series would break new ground by having a playable female character for the first time in GTA 6, along with a male protagonist.
This was confirmed in the GTA 6 trailer, which revealed the female protagonist is called Lucia. An unnamed male protagonist is also revealed in the trailer, but Lucia gets most of the limelight. Our first look at Lucia comes towards the beginning of the GTA 6 trailer, where we see her in jail talking to a prison staffer. She's asked: "Do you know why you're here?" to which Lucia responds: "Bad luck, I guess".
The next scene featuring Lucia happens outside of prison, midway through a getaway. Our female lead is holding a wad of cash in a car as the male protagonist drives, with police cars seen speeding past them with sirens blaring. Speaking to the male protagonist in a voiceover, she says: "The only way we're going to get through this, is by sticking together. Being a team." We then get a brief scene showing the two characters midway through a robbery and then afterwards in a speeding car, powersliding round a corner as Lucia whoops before cutting to a scene of the two characters in bed. Lucia, continuing what she said before, says: "Trust?" To which the male protagonist replies: "Trust". The trailer then cuts to a scene of Lucia kicking open a shop's door, as the two characters - wearing bandanas over their faces - point their guns towards the inside of the store.
We've only seen small glimpses of what Lucia is like, but it seems like Rockstar is adopting a more mature tone for GTA 6 and its main characters. In her brief bits of dialogue, Lucia comes across as more grounded than her GTA 5 peers, with none of the outlandish traits of a character like Trevor Philips, or being weighed down by the cartoonish family life of Michael De Santa. Which is something I'm all for.
GTA 6 initial announcement
After years of speculation and rumors, it was confirmed that the next Grand Theft Auto game was in development in February 2022. Rockstar Games announced that work on the eagerly anticipated game was underway in a very low key manner, dropping a brief statement on Twitter, and at the bottom of a Newswire post on their official website.
The announcement was only a few lines long, but at least confirmed work is underway on it. Announcing the development of the next GTA, Rockstar Games said: "Many of you have been asking about a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series.
"With every new project, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we've previously delivered. We're pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the series is underway."
GTA 6 development
Rockstar North, who has made every single mainline GTA game since the franchise started in the '90s, are thought to be the developers of GTA 6. While the development studio looks to have stayed the same, there have been plenty of other changes at Rockstar that impact the future of the GTA series.
In 2020 Dan Houser, who co-founded Rockstar Games and was one of the key creatives behind many of the studio's most beloved games, left the GTA and Red Dead Redemption makers. He is now working on a game for his new studio Absurd Ventures. Houser's departure came a number of years after another key member of Rockstar Games, Leslie Benzies, also left the studio. Benzies was the designer of both GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption. In August 2023, it was reported that Mike Unsworth, the VP of Writing at Rockstar Games, had seemingly left the GTA makers as well.
These high-level changes are the backdrop to the development of GTA 6, which we first heard concrete whispers about in 2020. At the time, it was claimed development on Rockstar's next major title after Red Dead Redemption 2 was in its early stages. The following year another report emerged about GTA 6, which claimed the next Grand Theft Auto wouldn't arrive until 2025. And then, in 2022, Rockstar at long last announced they were making GTA 6, saying work on the title was "well underway".
Looking for more GTA 6 content? Find out how Rockstar Games is embracing modding ahead of the launch of the next Grand Theft Auto. We've also got the lowdown on a Take-Two patent that could hint at smarter NPCs in GTA 6. Make sure you also check out our opinion piece on why GTA 6 needs to break away its past, and usher in a new tone.