GTA 6 Release Date, Trailer, Setting, Gameplay, and Platforms for 2025's Biggest Open-World Game
Rockstar says its next open-world epic is still on track for release in the next year.
As the wildly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 gets closer to release, the hype for Rockstar Games’ next open-world game is only getting stronger. After years of radio silence followed by massive leaks, Rockstar finally began publicly speaking about GTA 6 late last year.
With its release currently slated for an unannounced date in 2025, here’s everything you need to know about GTA 6.
Is There a Grand Theft Auto 6 Trailer?
Yes! Rockstar announced it would be posting the first trailer for the game on December 5, 2023. However, the trailer had to be released a few hours early after it leaked on the internet the night before. The minute-and-a-half trailer confirms a lot of what we had already learned from leaks of the game, including a return to Vice City and dual protagonists. Check it out:
The first GTA 6 trailer is heavy on vibes, but doesn’t actually show us how the game will play.
When is the Grand Theft Auto 6 Release Date?
The first trailer for the game announced that GTA 6 has a release window of fall 2025. No month or specific day has been set yet.
There was some concern that the GTA 6 release date would be delayed after Rockstar suffered a network intrusion in September 2022. Leaks of this kind have delayed projects before, but Rockstar downplayed those concerns on social media, saying, “We do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services nor any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects.”
After rumors again began swirling that GTA 6 would be delayed until 2026, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier said that developers at the studio hadn’t been informed of any delay, but cautioned that executives could have decided to delay the game without informing them. Parent company Take-Two’s August 2024 financial report also committed to a fall 2025 release date for the game. There was also concern that a SAG-AFTRA strike could cause a delay, but Take-Two quickly confirmed that it was exempt from the strike. Rockstar also has a history of delaying its biggest games, so even if none of the existing rumors are true, there’s always a chance that GTA 6 could be delayed, too.
Lucia is one of GTA 6’s two protagonists.
What Platforms Will Grand Theft Auto 6 Be Released On?
While platforms for GTA 6 were not mentioned in the trailer, an official press release from Rockstar confirmed that the game will be released on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles. There was no mention of a PC version of the game. That isn’t entirely surprising, since Rockstar games have historically hit PC later than consoles, as was the case with GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2. PC gamers may have to just wait patiently for a year or more after the game’s console release.
What is The Grand Theft Auto 6 Setting?
Grand Theft Auto VI will return to the series’ iconic Vice City setting, Rockstar’s version of Miami, but it won’t be confined to just the city.
The massive Rockstar leak in September 2022, which exposed more than 90 videos from a development build of GTA 6, shows various signs with “Vice City” written on them, and police cars are labeled VCPD. Rockstar later confirmed that the footage was legitimate.
However, GTA 6 is actually much bigger than Vice City. The game takes place in Leonida, a fictional version of Florida, so while you’ll probably be spending a lot of time in Vice City. It sounds similar to how GTA 5 handled its setting, focusing on the Los Angeles equivalent Los Santos, but letting players roam far outside the city as well. Leonida is likely to be larger than GTA 5’s world as well, as Rockstar called it “the biggest, most immersive” setting ever in the series in the first trailer’s description.
GTA 6 returns to Vice City, but its setting will be much larger than just one city.
What is the Grand Theft Auto 6 Story?
As leaks suggested, GTA 6 will introduce two protagonists — a man and a woman, who are a couple — and tell a Bonnie and Clyde-inspired story. The trailer names the woman as Lucia but does not reveal the male protagonist’s name.
GTA 6 looks to fall into the franchise's expected themes of the false reality of the American dream. The trailer also shows them having to commit lots of crimes and robberies, of course, but doesn’t tell us too much else about where the story will go. An interesting note is the trailer’s heavy use of social media, which feels relevant but maybe a little outdated. The only other hint of GTA 6’s story is trailer footage showing Lucia wearing a prison uniform, and later running from police with her partner. That certainly seems to reinforce the Bonnie and Clyde narrative, with the couple remaining on the run from the police.
What Should I Know About Grand Theft Auto 6 Gameplay?
The official trailer is more about vibes and showing off the city and protagonists than gameplay, but several leaks purport to share more of what will actually feature in the game.
Leaked footage shows returning series staples like a wheel interface used to pick weapons, and wanted level that increases as you commit crimes, drawing more attention from police. It’s likely that GTA 6 will allow players to swap between the two main characters and switch between first-person and third-person views, as GTA 6 and Red Dead Redemption 2 do.
One clip from the September 2022 leak shows the player switching their active weapon to their offhand so they can pick up a new rifle from the ground, which may support the idea of a more limited weapon inventory, though that hasn’t been confirmed.
GTA 6’s dual protagonists could be facing a world with more nuanced NPC interactions and combat.
Combat looks to be a little more nuanced than in previous Grand Theft Auto games. The player in the leaked footage is seen crouching, taking cover, and even carrying an NPC, so there will likely be more interaction with the environment this time around. NPCs also appear to be more reactive, as seen when a character attempts to rob a diner, and NPCs react in fear when they see a weapon drawn.
The GTA 6 leaked footage suggests that will have more interior locations than earlier Grand Theft Auto games, which could significantly change how the open-world sandbox feels. We see playable characters inside multiple buildings in the footage, and one clip shows a car interior in more detail than you’d expect from previous Grand Theft Auto games.
In 2021, TheGamer revealed that a Rockstar visual effects job description called for someone to create “large-scale destruction events like skyscrapers crashing into the ground.” That could be tied to the reported way the GTA 6 map will change over time, or it may signal that players’ actions could reshape the city. None of this was showcased in the September 2022 leak.
One big question surrounding GTA 6 is whether it will launch with its own version of GTA Online. The online component of GTA 5 is a big part of why the game remains relevant so many years after launch, not to mention the boatloads of money it’s earning for Rockstar. Because of that, a new online mode for GTA 6 feels all but guaranteed, but there’s been no official word from Rockstar about it.
Previous versions of this article were written by Danny Paez and Giovanni Colantonio.
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