GTA 6 has been a long time coming. It's now been more than 10 years since the last installment in the wildly popular Grand Theft Auto series, and after all the waiting Rockstar has given us our very first look at what is guaranteed to be one of the biggest games in history. GTA 6 news is finally on the way, and launching in 2025.
The very first trailer for GTA 6 debuted in December and it confirms a lot of what has been strongly rumored for months — a Vice City setting (GTA's take on Miami), and an introduction to the game's main characters, the series' first female protagonist.
To date, the above trailer is the only official look at the game we've got. Rockstar will be working on a carefully considered rollout of information but those plans went a tad awry in late 2022 after a hacker illegally accessed and downloaded confidential data from the developer's servers that included over 90 videos of unfinished gameplay. The breach was confirmed by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier who spoke to a confidential source who says the event is a "nightmare for Rockstar".
In a letter to the public, Rockstar says that it is "extremely disappointed" with the data leak, but says that work on GTA 6 will continue as planned and that the company will have more to share soon on the game's development. Naturally, we won't be sharing links to any of the leaked footage below as it was obtained illegally.
Fortunately, the 90-second trailer reveals plenty of juicy details to discuss, but we've also gathered the latest rumors across the web to put together this article; just bear in mind we've indulged in a good bit of speculation to fill in a few of the blanks.
GTA 6 news (updated March 24)
- Development is reportedly "falling behind" schedule, which could push GTA 6's release to late 2025 or even 2026
- Take Two's latest earning call may reveal that GTA 6 will launch in early 2025
- GTA 6 trailer launched early due to leaks
- GTA 6 release window may have just been leaked.
- Rockstar suffers major GTA 6 leak — here's what we know.
GTA 6: Release date rumors
As confirmed in the trailer, Rockstar Games is aiming for a 2025 launch window — seemingly confirming the hint at a big release coming between around March 2025.
We've always been cautious about predicting GTA 6 being launched somewhere in 2024, and now we have the confirmation that it's still more than a year away.
However, we may not have much longer than a year to wait, as a recent Take-Two earning call has suggested that the parent company of GTA developer Rockstar is expected a significant rise in revenue in its fiscal year 2025 (which ends March 31, 2025). Could this be an indication that GTA 6 is planned to launch in early 2025?
However, don't take this as confirmation that we'll be playing GTA 6 early next year, in the same report, Take-Two CEO, Strauss Zelnick, stated, "We're seeking perfection and when we've optimized [GTA 6], that's the time to release." So it's clear that Take-Two will not be making Rockstar release GTA 6 until a highly polished experience.
GTA 6: Platforms
In a press release that dropped alongside GTA 6's first trailer, Take-Two (Rockstar's parent company) confirms that the game is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X. The statement makes no mention of a PS4 or Xbox One version, which makes sense as those consoles will be 12 years old by the time GTA 6 launches in 2025.
Curiously, the press release makes no mention of the game coming to PC. This lines up with a recent rumor that suggests that the game's PC port will be delayed an extra year after its console counterpart. So we may not be playing GTA 6 on one of the best gaming PCs until sometime in 2026, or the game could skip PC entirely.
GTA 6: Characters and story leaks
The GTA series doesn't follow one particular set of characters or even a single location through all its games. So anyone hoping to see more of Michael, Franklin and Trevor should temper their expectations.
GTA 6's first trailer appears to introduce us to the game's new protagonists — a "Bonnie and Clyde" style crime couple — we know the female half will be called Lucia, but her male partner is currently unnamed. As for the beats of the narrative, there's no doubt you'll be indulging in the usual mix of crimes and heists with the odd look into the strange lives of the heroes and villains. And there seems to be a big focus on social media spoofing this time around as well.
One leak from last year claimed we would get a story similar to that of Netflix series Narcos, heavily focused on the operations of gangs and cartels on both sides of the US/Mexico border through the eyes of a player character named Ricardo (could this be our unnamed male character).
Earlier this year, a leak claimed the story would revolve around a Latina protagonist involved in a "Bonnie and Clyde"-style plot. Considering the firm details revealed in the first trailer, this leak seemingly could be legitimate as it marries up nicely with the slim footage we have to date.
In September 2022 there was a massive leak of 90 videos from a hacker showing early test footage for GTA 6. Rockstar has since confirmed that the footage leaked was authentic. While we did cover the leak, we are not revealing any information from the videos given how these details were obtained.
GTA 6: Setting
GTA 6 will take place in Vice City. This location was first introduced to the series in 2002's GTA: Vice City and is essentially the franchise's satirical take on Miami, Florida.
While the original Vice City was famously set in the 80s — with a fitting soundtrack full of iconic tunes — it looks like GTA 6 will be keeping events set in the modern day. The first trailer shows a range of more recent tech including smartphones and live streaming.
We're also hoping that GTA 6 will explore beyond the borders of Vice City with a larger map that incorporates the Florida Everglades and even smaller towns dotted around the central hub that will be Vice City.
In fact, super sleuth Reddit users have already been figuring out just how big the map is based on split-second screen clips of the trailer.
This shows how vast the map will be. Vice City is all the way out there! from r/GTA6
GTA 6 Online
GTA V has enjoyed a long life after its original release in 2013 thanks to the regularly updated GTA Online mode. This lets you play a large variety of game modes or to just free-roam around the map with other players, gaining money you can then spend on cars, clothing, weapons and player housing.
It's practically a certainty that we'll see a sequel arrive alongside GTA 6. However, the two experiences may end up separate. GTA Online originally arrived a month after the single-player portion of the game launched, and with consoles now capable of installing specific parts of a game rather than the whole package, Rockstar may decide to separate the two.
Either way, hopefully, there will be some way for long-time players of GTA Online to transfer their in-game earnings and items into the new game. Rockstar has earned a huge amount of money from players spending money on microtransactions in GTAO, and no doubt some players don't want this to all disappear with the move to a new generation.
GTA 6 pre orders
Many players were likely sold on GTA 6 before even the first trailer dropped. The franchise is one of the biggest in all entertainment, and any instalment is going to sell extremely well. It's no wonder many people are already asking where they can pre order GTA 6 right now.
There's currently no pre order details on GTA 6 but we expect that will change sometime in 2024. There may be a swanky collector's edition as well as a host of digital extras for those who commit their cash ahead of launch. We'll keep you updated once we have firm GTA 6 pre order details.
