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Overview
September 23, 2026 at 07:17 AM
Removed leak and fan-mapping sourced feature rows and re-sourced the rest to official material; merged the duplicated awards sections; dropped an unsourced sales projection and a presumed online mode; corrected the Trailer 1 date; restamped the PC negative; added the annual meeting outlook and the Extended Look
Grand Theft Auto VI is an upcoming open-world action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following Grand Theft Auto V (2013). The game is set in the fictional state of Leonida, a satirical version of Florida, with the sprawling metropolis of Vice City at its center.
GTA VI is scheduled for release on November 19, 2026 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. No PC release has been announced as of September 23, 2026. The game was originally targeting a Fall 2025 launch window before being delayed twice: first to May 26, 2026, then to its current November date. Rockstar stated the extra months would allow them to "finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect."
The game follows two protagonists: Jason Duval, a former soldier turned drug runner, and Lucia Caminos, a recently released convict determined to build a better life. The two form a Bonnie-and-Clyde-style partnership.
Rockstar's official story synopsis reads: "Jason and Lucia have always known the deck is stacked against them. But when an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a criminal conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida, forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive."
The game takes place across the state of Leonida, a fictional version of Florida. Confirmed regions include Vice City (Miami), the Leonida Keys (Florida Keys), Grassrivers (Everglades), Port Gellhorn (a decaying coastal town), Ambrosia (rural and industrial), and Mount Kalaga National Park (forests and wilderness). Rockstar North's head of development has put the map at roughly twice the size of Grand Theft Auto V's.
Dual protagonists: Players can switch between Jason and Lucia during gameplay. This is the first mainline GTA title with a named, voiced female protagonist.
Modern-day setting: GTA VI takes place in the present day, the first modern-era GTA game since GTA V in 2013. The world features in-game social media apps parodying TikTok, Uber, WhatsApp, and OnlyFans, with NPCs actively recording events on their phones.
Vice City returns: The series returns to Vice City for the first time since 2006's Vice City Stories, now set in the modern era instead of the 1980s. The city is a dense urban environment inspired by contemporary Miami.
Trailer 1 was released on December 4, 2023, set to Tom Petty's "Love Is a Long Road," a day ahead of its scheduled December 5 premiere and hours after a low-quality version leaked online. It became the most-viewed non-music video in YouTube's first 24 hours at the time. Trailer 2 followed on May 6, 2025, running nearly three minutes and set to "Hot Together" by The Pointer Sisters. Rockstar confirmed all footage was recorded on PlayStation 5. Trailer 2 received over 475 million views within 24 hours. A 26 minute 48 second gameplay showcase, Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look, followed on August 27, 2026.
Development reportedly began around 2014. Rockstar officially confirmed in February 2022 that development was well underway. In September 2022, approximately 90 in-progress development videos were leaked by the hacking group LAPSUS$. For the full timeline, see the Development History article.
Despite not being released, GTA VI has won five major industry awards across two ceremonies based on public voting and anticipation:
Award | Ceremony | Year |
|---|---|---|
Most Wanted Game | Golden Joystick Awards (42nd) | 2024 |
Most Anticipated Game | The Game Awards | 2024 |
Most Wanted Game | Golden Joystick Awards (43rd) | 2025 |
Best Game Trailer (Trailer 2) | Golden Joystick Awards (43rd) | 2025 |
Most Anticipated Game | The Game Awards | 2025 |
GTA VI won Most Wanted Game at the Golden Joystick Awards in both 2024 and 2025, with Rockstar's David Manley accepting the 2024 award in person. At The Game Awards 2025, GTA VI won Most Anticipated Game for the second consecutive year, beating out titles including The Witcher IV and Marvel's Wolverine. At The Game Awards 2024 it had beaten Death Stranding 2, Ghost of Yotei, Metroid Prime 4 and Monster Hunter Wilds.
This makes GTA VI one of only a handful of games to win Most Anticipated at The Game Awards two consecutive years, and only the third game (alongside Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3) to win Most Wanted at the Golden Joystick Awards in back-to-back years.
The table below lists headline features and the official material that shows or describes each one.
Feature | Details | Source |
|---|---|---|
Dual protagonists | Lucia Caminos and Jason Duval; first female lead in GTA history | Official trailers and Rockstar website |
Setting | Modern-day Vice City within the State of Leonida (Florida-inspired) | Official announcement |
Weapon carry limits | Two handguns carried concealed and two long guns carried visibly, one in hand and one on the back; additional weapons stored in vehicle trunks | Extended Look and Trailer 2 |
Social media satire | In-game social media platforms, influencer culture parody, viral content | Trailers official screenshots |
Dynamic NPC behavior | Conditional dialogue, schedule-driven routines, context-sensitive reactions | Patents (not confirmed as shipped) |
Analysts expect GTA VI to be the highest-grossing entertainment launch in history. Industry analyst projections estimate the game will generate approximately $3.2 billion in revenue within its first 12 months, with an estimated $1 billion in pre-orders alone. Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick described the launch as something new for the entire entertainment industry during the company's February 2026 earnings call, and reaffirmed again on the May 21, 2026 Q4 / full-year FY2026 earnings call.
One market-research estimate puts first-window revenue at $7.6 billion within 60 days of launch. Longer-term forecasts from multiple analysts project 100 million copies sold within five years. Rockstar has since confirmed pricing at $79.99 for the Standard Edition and $99.99 for the Ultimate Edition, superseding the $70 to $80 range those estimates assumed.
In its first-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings release on August 7, 2026, Take-Two reiterated a full-year net bookings outlook of $8.0 to $8.2 billion and tied that plan directly to the November 19 launch, superseding an earlier and lower figure. Wall Street consensus projects the company's earnings per share to surge from roughly $1.40 in fiscal year 2026 to $7.50 in fiscal year 2027 and $8.60 in fiscal year 2028. Zelnick restated the same $8.0 to $8.2 billion outlook at Take-Two's annual meeting of stockholders on September 17, 2026.
Rockstar opened the game's launch marketing in summer 2026 as planned. On June 24, 2026, Rockstar confirmed that pre-orders would open at midnight local time on June 25, 2026, alongside pricing and editions: a Standard Edition at $79.99 and a Grand Theft Auto VI: Ultimate Edition at $99.99. Every pre-order, and any purchase made before November 20, 2026 (the console storefronts list the cutoff as 23:59:59 on November 19, 2026), includes the Vintage Vice City Pack, and digital pre-orders add a free month of GTA+. Digital pre-loading begins November 12, 2026, and physical copies ship with a download code inside the box rather than a disc. See Pre-Order and Editions for the full breakdown.