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Grand Theft Auto VI

Grand Theft Auto VI, often written GTA 6, is the next main game in Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto series: a single-player crime story about the couple Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, set in Leonida, a fictional state modeled on Florida.[^3][^4] After two delays it is due on Nov 19, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S.[^1][^4] As of Nov 7, 2026 it is not yet out, and Rockstar has announced neither a PC version nor an online mode for it.[^10][^11]

The first gameplay, starting with stealing a car Footage from Rockstar's first gameplay showing, as IGN walks through the biggest changes from Grand Theft Auto V, beginning with how cars are cased and stolen.

Developer and publisher
Rockstar Games, led by Rockstar North[3][26]
Parent company
Take-Two Interactive[13]
Release
Nov 19, 2026 (scheduled; not yet out as of Nov 7, 2026)[1][4]
Platforms
PlayStation 5 (enhanced for PS5 Pro), Xbox Series X and S; no PC version announced[4][11][12]
Mode
Single player; no online mode announced[4][10]
Setting
Leonida, a fictional Florida, and Vice City[3]
Engine
RAGE (Rockstar Advanced Game Engine)[3]
US price
$79.99 Standard, $99.99 Ultimate[4]
Frame rate on consoles
30 frames per second[28]

Overview

Grand Theft Auto VI is an action-adventure game developed and published by Rockstar Games, a label of Take-Two Interactive, and the first main entry in the series since Grand Theft Auto V in 2013.[3][34] It is set in Leonida, a fictional state modeled on Florida, and its largest city, Vice City.[3] For the first time the series is built around a couple, Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, and the player can switch between them at almost any point outside certain story scenes.[3][25] Its PlayStation Store listing describes it as a single-player experience for one player.[4] The game is scheduled for Nov 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S.[1][4] As of Nov 7, 2026 it has not been released, and the press embargo on reviews is reported, though not announced by Rockstar, for Nov 18, the day before launch.[8] Its first gameplay footage shows a reworked approach to stealing cars: older models can be opened with a slim jim, while newer ones with advanced security need tools the player earns later.[33]

The first gameplay, starting with stealing a car Footage from Rockstar's first gameplay showing, as IGN walks through the biggest changes from Grand Theft Auto V, beginning with how cars are cased and stolen.

Development

Preliminary work began in 2014, after Grand Theft Auto V; early development followed Red Dead Redemption 2 in late 2018, and full production started in 2020.[3] The game runs on RAGE, Rockstar's in-house engine.[3] It is the first main Grand Theft Auto story since the 1997 original to be written without Dan Houser, who left Rockstar in 2020.[3] Analysts have guessed its budget at one to two billion dollars, a figure Rockstar has never disclosed.[3] Rockstar North in Edinburgh leads the work, and its co-studio head, Rob Nelson, has been the game's main public voice.[26] Nelson told Love magazine that the team assembles the game in eight-week milestones, pulling agreed sections together, reviewing them and taking extensive notes before planning the next block.[18] Take-Two's chief executive, Strauss Zelnick, said in February 2025 that Rockstar aims for creative perfection, which is why its games take so long.[23] In October 2026 Rockstar's leads told Bloomberg, as summarized by Kotaku, that the engine, tools and team built for this game should let the studio make its next one faster, since the foundations will not be rebuilt again.[14]

Setting and story

Leonida is the series' version of present-day Florida, and Vice City is its take on Miami.[3] The two trailers introduce the leads through story scenes rather than play: Trailer 1, released in December 2023, opens on Lucia being questioned in prison and asked whether she knows why she is there, and Trailer 2, released in May 2025, opens on Jason up on a roof, telling a visitor he is just fixing some leaks.[29][30] Rockstar describes a couple who, after an easy job goes wrong, are drawn into a criminal conspiracy that reaches across the state, and it has said nothing about how the story ends.[3] Each lead carries a Criminal Profile alongside the wanted level, which IGN describes as a more nuanced form of Red Dead Redemption 2's honor system: returning fire during a robbery counts as a reasonable response, while escalating a fight the player could have walked away from changes the profile.[25]

Trailer 1: Lucia's prison interview Rockstar's first trailer opens on Lucia in a prison interview before cutting to Leonida.

Gameplay

After a play session at Rockstar North, the creator TGG reported Nelson's figures for the map: twice the size of Grand Theft Auto V's, three times Red Dead Redemption 2's, with Vice City alone twice the size of Los Santos and Vice City with its suburbs eleven times Los Santos and its surroundings.[27]

How big the map is, in Rob Nelson's figures TGG relays the map sizes Rockstar North's Rob Nelson gave him after a session at the studio.

IGN, which watched Nelson play live, found Leonida more densely populated than anything it had seen in the series, with streets full of people ready to interact, and noted that the leads' stats are kept up with food, baths and workouts.[25] The map it was shown was crowded with icons for stores, side jobs and activities.[25]

A crowded Leonida, and switching between Jason and Lucia IGN on how busy the streets are and how the two leads are swapped and looked after.

The wanted level now has a heat system beneath it, which Nelson explained to IGN.[26] Red icons under the stars show whether the police have a physical description of the player, know what they are wearing or have caught them on a security camera, and a full change of clothes, bought in a shop or kept in the trunk of a car, makes them harder to find.[26]

The heat system under the wanted stars IGN explains, from Rob Nelson's description, how the police track clothes, cameras and descriptions.

Reveal and marketing

Rockstar confirmed on Feb 4, 2022 that development was well underway.[3] Trailer 1 came out on Dec 4, 2023, earlier than planned after a low-quality copy leaked, and promised a 2025 release.[3][29] Trailer 2 followed on May 6, 2025, and Zelnick said it drew 475 million views in its first 24 hours, a record at the time.[24][30] The first official gameplay, a showcase called An Extended Look, premiered on Netflix on Aug 27, 2026 at noon Pacific and reached YouTube six hours later.[31] A launch trailer was released in mid-October 2026, and a cut of it ran as the game's first television commercial during the NBA's opening-night games on Oct 20.[19] Sony is removing Grand Theft Auto V from PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium on Nov 17, 2026, two days before the new game unlocks.[20] The Game Awards named it the most anticipated game in both 2024 and 2025.[3]

Release and delays

The 2025 window did not hold.[3] On May 2, 2025 Rockstar moved the game to May 26, 2026, and on Nov 6, 2025 it moved it again, to Thursday, Nov 19, 2026, apologizing for the extra wait and saying the months would let it finish the game to the standard players expect.[2][1][35] Zelnick called the first delay short, less than six months, and said Rockstar was trying to make the best thing anyone had seen in entertainment.[24] According to Bloomberg, as Kotaku summarized it, Rockstar's head of publishing, Jennifer Kolbe, phoned Zelnick both times to ask for more time, and he greeted the second request by asking her to tell him she was joking before agreeing.[13] Pre-loading for digital pre-orders begins at local midnight on Nov 10, 2026, and Sony advises clearing at least 212 GB on a PlayStation 5.[5] Take-Two reports its quarterly results after the market closes on Nov 9, 2026, ten days before the launch.[21]

The second delay, read out on the day TGG reacts to Rockstar's Nov 6, 2025 announcement moving the game to Nov 19, 2026, and reads its apology.

Editions and pre-orders

Pre-orders opened at midnight local time on Jun 25, 2026.[6] In the United States the Standard Edition costs $79.99 and the Ultimate Edition $99.99.[4] Every copy bought before Nov 20 includes the Vintage Vice City Pack, items inspired by the city's neon past, and digital pre-orders on PlayStation add a free month of GTA+, Rockstar's paid membership, which renews unless canceled.[4][6] TheGamer objected that the Ultimate Edition keeps clothing stores, a tattoo parlor, vehicle workshops and a gang compound away from Standard buyers, calling it an especially bad case of content behind a paywall, while some of its readers noted that Red Dead Redemption 2's Ultimate Edition had done something similar.[22] Take-Two has published no pre-order count.[7] The analytics firm Sensor Tower estimated about 6.45 million pre-orders worth about $630 million by Oct 20, 2026, about three quarters of them on PlayStation 5, and Newzoo forecast as much as $5.2 billion in sales in the launch week.[7]

Platforms, performance and PC

Nelson said in August 2026 that the consoles run the game at 30 frames per second, and that whether a 60 frames per second option arrives at launch or later was still a question for the technical team.[28] The PlayStation Store lists the game as enhanced for PlayStation 5 Pro and not available on PlayStation 4.[4] No PC version has been announced.[11] In May 2026 Zelnick said that nearly all of Take-Two's hits reach every platform over time, but that Rockstar had so far announced this one for consoles only.[11] On Oct 7, 2026 Xbox's chief strategy officer, Matthew Ball, called a report by The Verge of exclusive streaming rights misreporting, and said the game would not stream to PC at launch.[12] For comparison, Grand Theft Auto V reached PC in April 2015, about 19 months after its 2013 console release.[34]

Digital Foundry on the 30 frames per second confirmation Digital Foundry reads out Rob Nelson's statement that the consoles run the game at 30 frames per second.

Online play

The game launches with no online mode.[4][10] At Take-Two's annual meeting in September 2026, Zelnick said no recurrent consumer spending, the in-game purchases that fund online games, was expected from this launch, and called GTA Online, the online mode of Grand Theft Auto V, a robust business the company would keep supporting.[10] In May he had said it would certainly stay on sale after the new game arrives.[11] Bloomberg's Jason Schreier said in August 2026 that Take-Two was discussing the game only as a single-player release and had said nothing about what a new GTA Online would look like.[32] Twitch's chief executive, Dan Clancy, told Bloomberg he expected a jump in viewers at launch and an even bigger one the following year, when multiplayer launches; Rockstar has not confirmed any online plans.[9]

Jason Schreier on the missing GTA Online Bloomberg's Jason Schreier explains that Take-Two talks about the game only as a single-player release.

Leaks and labor disputes

In September 2022 a hacker posted 90 videos, about 50 minutes of early footage taken from Rockstar's internal Slack, to GTAForums; a suspect was arrested days later, and Rockstar told a court the breach cost it $5 million and thousands of staff hours.[3] Aaron Garbut said seeing the footage spread felt like strangers going through his laundry, and the studio later required staff in the office five days a week and cut off access to its servers from home, citing security.[15] In August and October 2026 an account called CyberLeek, tied to a meme coin, posted gameplay clips and threatened to release the whole build if the coin reached $30 million; when it did not, the account said on Oct 14, 2026 that its leaks had stopped, for now.[16] In October 2025 Rockstar dismissed 31 UK staff, saying the dismissals were for gross misconduct over discussing company secrets in an outside channel, and was accused of union busting.[17][3] The workers' employment tribunal case is due to hear closing submissions on Nov 17 and 18, 2026, and Rockstar's UK staff vote from Nov 12 to Nov 26 on establishing a union with the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain.[17]

Timeline

  1. Rockstar confirms development is well underway.[3]
  2. 90 videos of early footage leak from Rockstar's Slack.[3]
  3. Trailer 1 is released, promising 2025.[29]
  4. First delay, to May 26, 2026.[2]
  5. Trailer 2 is released.[30]
  6. Second delay, to Nov 19, 2026.[1][35]
  7. Pre-orders open.[6]
  8. An Extended Look premieres on Netflix, then YouTube.[31]
  9. The first television commercial airs during NBA opening night.[19]
  10. Take-Two reports quarterly results.[21]
  11. Pre-loading opens for digital pre-orders.[5]
  12. Scheduled release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S.[4]

What we think

This section is Heartipedia’s own opinion, not sourced fact. Each view is reasoned from the facts cited above and from trends we see; it may turn out wrong. A prediction’s words are never changed once made: when the facts are known we add the result under it, right or wrong. Every prediction we have made.

The online mode arrives as a free update, set in Leonida, in 2027

We expect Rockstar to release Grand Theft Auto VI's online mode in 2027 as a free update for owners of the game, set in Leonida rather than in a new map. We think its first big update after that will be a cooperative heist, the format GTA Online has leaned on for years.

Why: The game launches as single player with no in-game spending planned, while Take-Two calls GTA Online a robust business, and Twitch's chief executive told Bloomberg he expects multiplayer the year after launch. Grand Theft Auto V's online mode came free with the game two weeks after release, and a map Rockstar spent six years of full production on is the obvious place to set it.

Prediction Confidence: Likely Check by: Dec 2027 Made

GTA Online on Grand Theft Auto V gets its last big update in 2027

We expect Rockstar to say in 2027 that GTA Online on Grand Theft Auto V will get no more major content updates, within months of the new online mode going live.

Why: Zelnick has promised only that the old game "will stay in market", not that it keeps growing, and Sony is already taking Grand Theft Auto V out of PlayStation Plus two days before the new game unlocks. A studio that just finished its biggest game is unlikely to keep two online worlds supplied with new missions for long.

Prediction Confidence: Possible Check by: Dec 2027 Made

The PC version launches with the online mode on day one

We expect a PC version to be announced in 2027 and to reach Steam and the Rockstar Games Launcher on the same day, with the online mode included from its first day rather than added later.

Why: Zelnick says nearly all of Take-Two's hits reach every platform over time, and Grand Theft Auto V reached PC 19 months after the consoles. We think Rockstar will hold the PC release until the online mode is ready, because an online world, with its mods and community servers, is what keeps PC players buying in for years.

Prediction Confidence: Possible Check by: Jun 2028 Made

Over 40 million copies by the end of March 2027

We expect Take-Two to report that Grand Theft Auto VI sold more than 40 million copies by Mar 31, 2027, the end of its fiscal year.

Why: Sensor Tower estimated about 6.45 million pre-orders a month before launch, and Newzoo forecast up to $5.2 billion in launch-week sales, which at $80 to $100 a copy is well over 40 million copies on its own. Even if that forecast runs hot, four and a half months on sale with no PC version is enough to pass 40 million.

Prediction Confidence: Possible Check by: May 2027 Made

No story expansion, but a new Red Dead revealed by 2028

We think Rockstar will release no paid single-player story expansion for Grand Theft Auto VI, and will instead reveal its next game, a new Red Dead, before the end of 2028.

Why: Grand Theft Auto V got no story expansion after 2013, and Rockstar's updates went to its online mode. Rockstar's leads told Bloomberg the engine, tools and team built for this game should make the next one faster, and Red Dead Redemption 2 is Rockstar's other open-world series.

Prediction Confidence: Long shot Check by: Dec 2028 Made

The heat system is the real new idea, not the map

We think the heat system under the wanted stars is the most important change in Grand Theft Auto VI, more than the size of the map. Our view is that it turns escape from a chase into a decision about clothes, cars and cameras, and that other open-world games will copy it.

Why: Police that know a player's description, outfit and camera sightings, and lose the trail after a full change of clothes, change how every crime is planned. A map twice the size of Grand Theft Auto V's is a larger version of what the series has always done.

Opinion Made

What others predict

Predictions made on video by creators, experts or the subject of this page, in their words, each linked at the second it is said. The one line after each is our view. When the facts are known we add the result, right or wrong.

Blitzwinger: online and a PC version come later

Blitzwinger , at 4:42 Check by: Dec 2027

"obviously as time goes on, that will be a major update and then they'll also release the PC version." (YouTube's automatic captions)

Our view: We think he is right on both, and that the PC version will wait for the online mode rather than come first.

Moments

  1. The first gameplay, starting with stealing a car Footage from Rockstar's first gameplay showing, as IGN walks through the biggest changes from Grand Theft Auto V, beginning with how cars are cased and stolen.
  2. Trailer 1: Lucia's prison interview Rockstar's first trailer opens on Lucia in a prison interview before cutting to Leonida.
  3. How big the map is, in Rob Nelson's figures TGG relays the map sizes Rockstar North's Rob Nelson gave him after a session at the studio.
  4. A crowded Leonida, and switching between Jason and Lucia IGN on how busy the streets are and how the two leads are swapped and looked after.
  5. The heat system under the wanted stars IGN explains, from Rob Nelson's description, how the police track clothes, cameras and descriptions.
  6. The second delay, read out on the day TGG reacts to Rockstar's Nov 6, 2025 announcement moving the game to Nov 19, 2026, and reads its apology.
  7. Digital Foundry on the 30 frames per second confirmation Digital Foundry reads out Rob Nelson's statement that the consoles run the game at 30 frames per second.
  8. Jason Schreier on the missing GTA Online Bloomberg's Jason Schreier explains that Take-Two talks about the game only as a single-player release.

References

  1. Grand Theft Auto VI is Now Set to Launch November 19, 2026, Rockstar Games, 2025-11-06primary
  2. Grand Theft Auto VI is Now Coming May 26, 2026, Rockstar Games, 2025-05-02primary
  3. Grand Theft Auto VI, Wikipedia contributors, 2026-11-07user_generated
  4. Grand Theft Auto VI (PlayStation Store listing), Sony Interactive Entertainment, 2026-11-07primary
  5. Grand Theft Auto VI pre-download begins November 10, PlayStation Blog, 2026-11-03primary
  6. Grand Theft Auto VI plays best on PS5 November 19, PlayStation Blog, 2026-06-24primary
  7. GTA 6 Has Already Made Over $600 Million in Pre-Order Sales, Insider Gaming, 2026-10-20press
  8. Grand Theft Auto 6 Review Embargo Date Details, Insider Gaming, 2026-10-26press
  9. Twitch CEO Expects GTA 6 Will Lead To A Huge Influx Of Viewers And Anticipates Multiplayer Mode Is Coming Next Year, Kotaku, 2026-09-17press
  10. Take-Two CEO addresses GTA 6 monetisation and management criticism at shareholder meeting, Inven Global, 2026-09-18press
  11. GTA 6 November 19 Date Holds as Take-Two Beats Earnings, but Zelnick Stays Coy on the Inevitable PC Port, Wccftech, 2026-05-22press
  12. Update: Xbox Denies Report It Has Exclusive Streaming Rights For GTA 6 At Launch, Kotaku, 2026-10-06press
  13. When Rockstar Needed To Delay GTA 6 Again, Take-Two's CEO Replied: 'Please Tell Me You're Kidding', Kotaku, 2026-10-14press
  14. Rockstar Swears You Won't Have To Wait Nearly A Decade For Its Next Game After GTA6, Kotaku, 2026-10-14press
  15. GTA 6 Lead Reacts To The Infamous 2022 Leak: 'Like Somebody's Wading Through Your Dirty Washing', Kotaku, 2026-10-14press
  16. GTA 6 Leaker Announces They Won't Release The Full Game: 'The Leeks Stop For Now', Kotaku, 2026-10-14press
  17. Rockstar Games Devs In The UK Will Hold A Union Vote During The Launch Of GTA 6, Kotaku, 2026-10-27press
  18. Rockstar Explains How It Actually Makes A Game Like GTA 6, Kotaku, 2026-10-05press
  19. GTA 6's First TV Ad Cuts The Spicy Shower Scenes, Kotaku, 2026-10-21press
  20. GTA 5 Is Getting Yanked From PlayStation Plus Right Before GTA VI Launches, Kotaku, 2026-10-14press
  21. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. to Report Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2027 Results on Monday, November 9, 2026, Take-Two Interactive, 2026-10-13primary
  22. GTA 6 Is Locked A Ridiculous Amount Of Content Behind The $100 Ultimate Edition, TheGamer, 2026-06-24press
  23. Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick on Grand Theft Auto 6: We couldn't be more excited, CNBC Television, 2025-02-10press
  24. Take-Two CEO on GTA 6 delay: Trying to create the best thing anyone's ever seen in entertainment, CNBC Television, 2025-05-16press
  25. We've Seen GTA 6 Gameplay IRL - The First Preview, IGN, 2026-08-28press
  26. In GTA 6 You're Not Just Wanted, You're Hunted - Rockstar Explains, IGN, 2026-08-27press
  27. I Saw 3 Hours of GTA 6 at Rockstar North - First Impressions (Exclusive Info), TGG, 2026-08-27user_generated
  28. Grand Theft Auto 6 Confirmed as 30FPS - But Is That Set In Stone?, Digital Foundry (DF Clips), 2026-08-30press
  29. Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 1, Rockstar Games, 2023-12-04primary
  30. Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 2, Rockstar Games, 2025-05-06primary
  31. GTA 6 to Premiere Extended Look on Netflix - IGN Daily Fix, IGN, 2026-08-06press
  32. Grand Theft Auto VI Pre-Orders 'Vastly' Beat Expectations, Take-Two CEO Tells Me, Jason Schreier, 2026-08-07press
  33. GTA 6 - Biggest Gameplay Changes From Grand Theft Auto 5, IGN, 2026-08-28press
  34. Grand Theft Auto V, Wikipedia contributors, 2026-11-07user_generated
  35. GTA 6 Has Been Officially Delayed... Again, TGG, 2025-11-06user_generated

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About this page

Drafted by
claude-opus-5-5 on 2026-11-07T12:00:00Z
Checked by
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Reviewed by
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Status
Published and revised continuously; this version is the one described here.
Published
7 November 2026
Last updated
7 November 2026, see what changed
Sources
No Wikipedia source; the sources are listed above.
License
Text CC BY-SA 4.0; embedded videos and thumbnails remain their uploaders’ property, shown under YouTube’s Terms of Service; quotations excluded. Details

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