GTA 6 release date speculation, trailer and latest news

Nevertheless, through the slow trickle of news over a longer period of time, we have received a good amount of information as to where the game will be set, who you're playing as, and what you can play it on.

So, here's everything to know about Grand Theft Auto 6 right now.

When is the GTA 6 release date? Our speculation and estimate

GTA 6 is still slated to drop in autumn 2025, after being originally revealed in the general 2025 release window before being narrowed down to the 'fall' of that year.

Take-Two announced this during its earnings call for fiscal year 2024, which ended on 31st March. The reason for announcing the release period is to assuage fears after Take-Two missed its projected earnings for the year.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, looking ahead to the future - when they know GTA 6 will make untold amounts of money - said, "Our outlook reflects a narrowing of Rockstar Games' previously established window of calendar 2025 to fall of calendar 2025 for Grand Theft Auto VI," and added that Take-Two "expect to deliver sequential growth in net bookings for fiscal 2025, 2026 and 2027" as a result.

Why is GTA 6 taking so long?

With the massive size and scope of the latest Grand Theft Auto game, GTA 6 is taking so long due to Rockstar Games wanting to be sure they're satisfied with the final product before launching, hoping not to disappoint the franchise's many fans.

What's more, the company feels safe to do this since the anticipation of GTA 6 puts it in a position to be a monumental best-seller whenever it comes out.

Former developer on the series Obbe Vermeij recently said on X that this sixth instalment has no competition, and so Rockstar won’t panic about releasing it until it is absolutely happy with the final game.

That potentially means GTA 6 could be pushed back into 2026 - let’s hope that’s not the case.

Can you pre-order GTA 6?

GTA 6 is unavailable for pre-order, with Rockstar still keeping lots of information hidden until the game's launch is ready.

Going off past releases, pre-orders will likely not go live until a good six months or so out from the game, even if the likes of Amazon, GAME and such do upload placeholder pages in the meantime.

Once Rockstar announces a specific release date for Grand Theft Auto VI, we'll likely see news about pre-orders going live shortly after.

Is there a trailer for GTA 6?

Yes, the first GTA 6 trailer was officially released by Rockstar on 4th December 2023. It leaked several hours earlier than it was scheduled to, meaning the developer was forced to publish ahead of time.

With Tom Petty's Love Is a Long Road playing in the background, the 90-second trailer gives us a good look at the state of Leonida, Lucia and her male partner.

Check out the trailer below:

There are rumours there will be another trailer soon, but at this rate it may even be 2025, depending on whether the game makes its intended release window or not.

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Where will the GTA 6 map be set?

Confirmed further by the trailer, the map of GTA 6 will be set in Leonida, a fictional state based on Florida which includes the iconic Vice City – the fictional version of Miami previously featured in the original Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories – later clarified on the official GTA VI website.

Whether this means GTA 6 will cover the whole of Leonida's version of Florida beyond Vice City at launch or will be added as post-launch content currently remains to be seen.

A Bloomberg report claims, "Rockstar’s plan is now to continually update the game over time, adding new missions and cities on a regular basis," so we'll have to wait until we get further clarification.

Punters have long suggested that the map will still be larger than both GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, and supposed GTA leaker Tez2 has noted that a 2022 GTA+ survey has asked select players if they'd use a fast-travel feature – which is therefore likely being considered for GTA 6.

A Rockstar statement can be read below, which was released back in 2022 as the game was heavily leaked: "With every new project we embark on, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we have previously delivered."

Expect the game to be bigger and better than what you know and love in GTA 5.

Over on Reddit, a user has collated a massive list of evidence and things learned about Vice City in GTA 6, which includes details on how it "seems to be around 2.5 x larger than Los Santos in city size".

There are tons of details about the map in the thread, including information on towns and other areas outside of Vice City – it's well worth a look!

Will GTA 6 story include first female protagonist?

Grand Theft Auto 6 will have two playable characters, one of whom is Lucia - the first playable female protagonist since the first top-down two-dimensional game.

As for the story and characters in GTA 6, Bloomberg's report covers that along with the first trailer. The article claims that GTA 6 "will include a playable female protagonist for the first time, according to people familiar with the game".

The report goes on to note: "The woman, who is Latina, will be one of a pair of leading characters in a story influenced by the bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde."

Touching on how this new instalment could modernise the GTA tone, the report adds: "Developers are also being cautious not to 'punch down' by making jokes about marginalised groups."

Lucia's male partner, first shown in the GTA 6 trailer, is also implied to be in a relationship with her, but we currently don't know his name. Nevertheless, we'll be updating this article as soon as we know more.

What platforms will GTA 6 be on?

The GTA 6 trailer and the game's website have confirmed that you can play the game on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

There currently isn't any news on a GTA 6 PC port or the release date for one. Nevertheless, we're certain Rockstar has one in the works, given the huge player base Rockstar Games would be missing out on if they went console-exclusive forever, and will be announced either in 2025 or after it is released on PlayStation 5 & Xbox.

As for PS4 and Xbox One, along with the Nintendo Switch, it's fair to say that GTA 6 won't come to any of these older platforms due to their underpowered hardware.

The only way we can see this being possible for the Nintendo Switch is via the cloud or on the supposedly more powerful rumoured Nintendo Switch successor. We'll keep you posted as we learn more.

GTA 6 leaks

GTA 6 leaks keep giving us new details about the game before its launch. The latest supposed leaks suggest that the game will feature some impressive weather tech.

From the sounds of the leak, dynamic weather in GTA 6 could affect NPCs' behaviour and activities, with temperature even playing a part.

As with all leaks and rumours, it's worth taking everything with a hearty pinch of salt.

Furthermore, while this isn't a leak as such, the Rockstar website has altered its GTA 6 profile to include placeholders for things like "Platform" and "Release Date" - as X user GTA 6 Countdown shared. Check out the post below:

GTA 6 Countdown later reported that the new page was taken down, but the code remains. Speculation says that Rockstar was likely preparing the page with more information before getting ready to launch digital purchases (pre-orders), which were also mentioned.

Whichever way, the company isn't ready to reveal its content to the public just yet. As always, we'll keep you posted if anything pops up.

Our original report on the September 2022 leaks remains unchanged below:

90 videos of what is to be believed early development footage of GTA 6 leaked in September 2022, meaning we have some idea of what the game might entail. Before being taken down, the footage seemed to confirm the new female and male protagonists, alongside showcasing some open-world gameplay.

Rockstar subsequently confirmed the validity of the leaks, and added that it is "extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared with you all in this way". Despite the leak, though, Rockstar claims that its "work on the next Grand Theft Auto game will continue as planned". The full statement can be read below:

"We recently suffered a network intrusion in which an unauthorised third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from our systems, including early development footage for the next Grand Theft Auto.

"At this time, we do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services nor any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects," said Rockstar.

"We are extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared with you all in this way. Our work on the next Grand Theft Auto game will continue as planned and we remain as committed as ever to delivering an experience to you, our players, that truly exceeds your expectations.

"We will update everyone again soon and, of course, will properly introduce you to this next game when it is ready. We want to thank everyone for their ongoing support through this situation."

As spotted by Reddit user u/Tobbelobben30 in the GTA 6 subreddit, publisher Take-Two has patented an animation system that allows for "highly dynamic and realistic animations".

Tobbelobben30 went on to explain in layman's terms what this means.

"Based on this patent, it seems like they're using a clever system. They've built a library of small building blocks for character movements. These blocks can be combined in various ways to create a wide range of animations."

All these "building blocks" could be combined to infer how the player and other characters should move and react.

"Think about a character in the game walking in the rain, feeling tired or getting injured. Instead of designing separate animations for each of these situations, they use these building blocks to put together the character's movements naturally."

Very exciting stuff, then! Red Dead Redemption 2 already has an extremely reactive animation system, and given the amount of obsessive detail that is in that game, a Rockstar release six or so years on from then should be a visual powerhouse.

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