GTA 6 release date speculation, trailer and latest news

Above all of this is the release date for GTA 6. Will it make 2025? Considering the longevity time behind its development, we'd be inclined to say yes. On the other hand, Rockstar has delayed every modern GTA at least once so… What we do know is that it's currently committed to 2025, with the latest comments arriving in February regarding its status.

So with that, here's everything we know about Grand Theft Auto 6, from its release date to pre-order news to leaks and the official trailer itself.

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

Rockstar has confirmed that GTA 6 will be released in 2025, specifically in the fall of 2025.

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

"Our outlook reflects a narrowing of Rockstar Games' previously established window of calendar 2025 to fall of calendar 2025 for Grand Theft Auto VI," said Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick.

The GTA 6 release date was then re-confirmed to be on track for fall 2025 in February by Zelnick as part of the company's quarterly earnings reports for October to December 2024.

"We’ve announced a pretty narrow window. So I think our view is that right now, that’s fine," said Zelnick (via Variety). They added: "And then when it’s appropriate, of course, Rockstar is going to have more to say."

It's worth noting that pretty much every Grand Theft Auto has been delayed at least once, with Rockstar's previous release, Red Dead Redemption II, delayed three times. That said, GTA 6 is still slated for 2025 at the time of writing.

Read more:

• GTA 6 could cause delays to live-service game updates, as release date still remains up in the air

Why is GTA 6 taking so long?

With the massive size and scope of the latest Grand Theft Auto game, there are numerous reasons why GTA 6 is taking so long to come out.

For one, game development has only grown more advanced over the last decade, so creating a game of this magnitude naturally takes more time.

Another reason that is being cited is that Rockstar Games wants to be sure it is satisfied with the final product before launching, hoping not to disappoint 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.

A former developer on the series, Obbe Vermeij, recently stated (via X) that the sixth instalment has no competition, so Rockstar has no need to panic about launching the game until it is absolutely happy with the final product. That potentially means GTA 6 could be pushed back to 2026 — let’s hope that’s not the case.

Can you pre-order GTA 6?

No, pre-orders for GTA 6 are not yet available.

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

Once Rockstar announces a specific release date for GTA 6, pre-orders will shortly follow.

Is there a trailer for GTA 6?

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

The 90-second trailer provides a decent look at the state of Leonida, the main protagonist Lucia and her unknown male partner. During this, Tom Petty's Love Is a Long Road provides the GTA 6 soundtrack, potentially hinting at what sort of music will feature throughout.

Check out the trailer below:

There are rumours that another trailer will be released soon. If so, this will tell whether the game makes its 2025 release date. If we get a trailer before June, there's a good chance it's coming out this year. If not, expect a delay announcement.

Where will the GTA 6 map be set?

The trailer confirmed that the map of GTA 6 will be set in Leonida, a fictional state based on Florida that 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.

It remains to be seen 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.

A Bloomberg report claims: "Rockstar’s plan is now to continually update the game over time, adding new missions and cities regularly," 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.

Will GTA 6 story include first female protagonist?

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

A Bloomberg report from December 2023 claimed 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."

We officially don't know the name of Lucia's male partner, although rumours online suggest it may be Jason.

What platforms will GTA 6 be on?

The GTA 6 trailer and the game's website confirm that the game will be available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

There is currently no news on a GTA 6 PC port or its release date. 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.

As for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and 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 same is likely for the Switch 2 with GTA 5 having a better chance of coming to that console.

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.

Whatever the case, the company isn't ready to reveal its content to the public just yet.

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

They 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.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is set to launch in 2025 across PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

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