GTA 6 trailer
The GTA 6 trailer has released earlier than anticipated due to widespread leaks. It was originally scheduled to drop on Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at 9am ET / 6am PT / 2pm GMT / 3pm CET / 1am AEDT, but Rockstar Games has since made it available to view following the leak.
Rockstar Games president Sam Houser confirmed on the Rockstar Games Twitter account that the GTA 6 trailer would arrive in “early December”.
Trailer 1 confirms the GTA 6 release date year as 2025. It’s approximately 91 seconds in length, and verifies long-standing rumors that the series is making a return to Vice City. It features several prominent GTA 6 locations, including the Malibu Club and Ocean Drive. We also catch a glimpse of our two main protagonists, Lucia and Jason, thrown together in unusual circumstances and forced to work together, with the possibility of a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde situation.
GTA 6 story
The GTA 6 trailer gave us concrete details surrounding the GTA 6 story. It’s quickly apparent that GTA 6 is set in modern-day Vice City and not the ‘80s thanks to the proliferation of social media posts that provide quick snapshots of everyday life in Rockstar’s exaggerated version of Miami, including alligator-wrangling, drive-by twerking, and a middle-aged woman in a nightie and slippers wielding two hammers. While the prospect of in-universe social media has appeared previously in GTA 5, this latest representation of Vice City already proves that, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
We also get our first proper introduction to Lucia, the first of GTA 6’s two main protagonists, as she appears in an orange prison garb conversing with a prison councillor. When asked why she ended up in prison, she shrugs: “Bad luck, I guess.” It’s unclear whether this cutscene takes place at the beginning or the end of her story, but the GTA 6 story is set to chart the course of her time on the wrong side of the law.
We also get a glimpse of Jason, the second GTA 6 protagonist and Lucia’s partner-in-crime, although he appears to be a less prominent figure in the GTA 6 story than Lucia. The two clearly have an intimate relationship à la Bonnie and Clyde, though their depth of romantic feelings for one another is yet to be revealed. In a brief voiceover, Lucia appears to be addressing him as she declares: “The only way that we get through this is by sticking together. Being a team.”
This teamwork is reflected in a fraught cutscene as they flee the cops in a getaway car, dollar bills clutched in Lucia’s hands. We also see multiple instances of them storming into convenience stores and other buildings, faces obscured and guns raised. One thing’s for sure, this is one crime spree we don’t want to miss.
While leaks have shown off Lucia in the past, rumors were circulating about a playable female character long beforehand. Eagle-eyed users from GTA Forums picked up on some clues, keeping track of some of the voice talent. One actor, Natonia Monet, originally lists on her CV a performance as “Tamara” under a project known by the codename “Fireball”. This profile has since been altered, but as one of their users points out, “Fireball” is the name of a song by Miami-born artist Pitbull. As it turns out, this may not be the main character, as she is named Lucia in the footage
GTA 6 map speculation
As for the GTA 6 map itself, some fans speculate that if the calculations from the GTA 6 leak were true, this version of Vice City and the surrounding areas could be twice as large as GTA 5’s Los Santos – although a former dev has suggested that the GTA 6 map should be smaller and more densely packed.
Rumors also suggest that the campaign’s map will change through DLC to include new areas or updates to existing ones based on whatever theme the DLC has. It’s not just the campaign map that changes either, as the new GTA Online mode may take place on an ‘evolving map’ that includes alterations and tweaks with every update, much like how the Fortnite map changes with every new season.
GTA 6 gameplay
As for what GTA 6 gameplay we can see from the leaks, there’s not much different from GTA 5. In one of the leaks, we see Lucia – presumably controlled by the player – holding up a diner while trying to keep the hostages from escaping by shooting them in the back as they run. We also see Jason and Lucia evading the cops by stealing one of their cars and driving around the block. Jason also leans out of a moving car while shooting with an assault rifle.
As you might expect, driveable vehicles include GTA 6 cars and boats, while the Metro allows players to effectively fast travel across the city. In addition, the cars seem to allow players to adjust the wheel’s position, chair angles, and other controls.
Some raw test footage shows more about the movement mechanics, including a cover system, crouching, and crawling. The playable character can also cover their face with their hands or GTA 6 weapons to prevent headshots. At one point in the footage, we see Jason looking in a convenience store while using a new vision ability. It looks similar to how Deadeye in Red Dead Redemption works, but right now, we only see it adjust the color of the footage.
And that’s our roundup of GTA 6 release date rumors and speculation. We still have a long time to wait until the sequel to one of the best PC games arrives. In the meantime, we have compiled a list of GTA 6 cheats that we’d love to see in the sandbox game, and some speculation on whether GTA 6 will be on Steam, for those of you who prefer playing games on Valve’s platform.
Why is there so much hype around GTA 6 trailer launch?
GTA 6 is the long-awaited sequel to the popular game GTA 5, which was released back in 2013, and Rockstar Games finally announced on Tuesday that fans will be able to get their hands on the latest iteration of the GTA series in 2025.
As evidenced by the views from the trailer video, the popularity of the Grand Theft Auto series knows no bounds, with GTA 5 being only the second most popular game of all time, selling around 190 million copies worldwide, behind only Microsoft's Minecraft. Rockstar Games' parent company, Take-Two Interactive, has previously said it expects the game to generate $8 billion in net bookings by 2025.
What's new in GTA 6?
The GTA 6 trailer introduces the series' first female protagonist, Lucia, who is seen in a prison at the start of the trailer. Later in the video, Lucia and her boyfriend are seen pulling off Bonnie and Clyde-style heists in Vice City.
In a statement about GTA 6, Rockstar Games said: “Grand Theft Auto VI heads to the state of Leonida, home to the neon-soaked streets of Vice City and beyond in the biggest, most immersive evolution of the Grand Theft Auto series yet."
The game is set in Vice City in the state of Leonida. The trailer shows a modern Bonnie and Clyde in virtual Miami. It also shows:
A prison with barbed wire fencing and guard towers
A member of staff at the Leonida Department of Correction
Crowded beaches with NPCs
Packed streets with cars
GTA 6 release date rumors
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but don't expect a GTA VI release date anytime soon. The only official announcement from Rockstar about GTA VI came in the form of an "it exists" statement from the developer in February 2022. Since then, nothing.
Some on the internet, like this Redditor, have looked into recent statements by GTA publisher Take-Two Interactive's CEO Strauss Zelnick. Speaking about the company's quarterly financial reports in August, the CEO stated that Take-Two would see a "significant inflection point" in fiscal 2025. Which, in Wall Street speak, means a big change is coming — like perhaps a new GTA.
Next year is not off the cards, however, thanks to Microsoft. In July 2022, Jason Schreier of Bloomberg reported that "current and former Rockstar staff" expected GTA 6 to be at least 2 years away. On top of that, during its, at the time, ongoing acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft wrote to the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that "The highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI is expected to be released in 2024."
Beyond that, don't expect Rockstar or Take-Two to drop a release date for GTA 6 in the near future, as it looks like we're at least a year away from any news on that front.
GTA 6 leaks
Despite not even being close to a potential release, we do have a lot of information on some of the basics of the game, thanks to some leaks. In September of last year, we covered a massive dump of an in-development build of GTA 6 that gave us plenty of juicy information. The biggest of which is that, for the first time ever, GTA will feature a playable female protagonist named Lucia.
On top of that, it seems that the series may be making a return to the Miami-inspired Vice City and that buildings will be enterable, with the game placing an even bigger focus on heists and robberies.
The leak was unprecedented and massive and was scrubbed from the internet. You'd be hard-pressed to find any of the footage on Reddit or the official GTA forums, and if you ask for it you might get banned. A 17-year-old UK citizen was arrested last year in connection to the Rockstar hack, and it seems he was affiliated with the known hacker group “Laspus$.”
These are all rumors, of course, and leaks of in-development gameplay are subject to change. Grand Theft Auto VI is still a long way away from being playable, but at least we know that Rockstar is shooting for the moon on this one, which is enough to excite any fan.