September 21, 2026: The GTA 6 release date is still on track following the leaked videos and the official reveal on Netflix.
When is GTA 6 coming out? Given how many years it takes to create open worlds of the same caliber as GTA 5, it’s no surprise that Rockstar Games has spent years developing GTA 6. Rockstar prefers to keep its secrets close to its chest until close to the end of development, but Take-Two is starting to reveal more about the game.
The Grand Theft Auto 6 release date has certainly been a long time coming. Early gameplay leaks of GTA 6 surfaced online last year, along with lines of source code and development footage for the open-world game. There have been plenty of rumors and speculation surrounding the release date since then, but we finally have confirmation of the GTA 6 release date, story, and setting. Here’s all the latest on GTA 6, including trailers and news, right here on .
GTA 6 release date
The GTA 6 release date is Thursday, November 19, 2026. This is the launch date for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, while the GTA 6 PC release is likely to arrive by the end of the following year.
According to the official PlayStation Store listing, GTA 6 will release at midnight across all time zones. This staggered release means that New Zealand will have access to GTA 6 first, while the rest of the world will have to wait until it hits midnight in their time zone. Regions with multiple time zones will see a full release when their earliest time zone hits midnight. GTA 6 is now available to pre-order on the Xbox and PlayStation stores.
Of course, we don’t expect it to arrive on PC digital storefronts until after its console launch, but we do have the latest news on whether GTA 6 will be on Steam for devotees of Valve’s platform.
GTA 6 PC release date estimate
Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick addressed the GTA 6 PC release date directly during the TD Cowen 52nd Annual Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference. “Rockstar has an approach to platforms which we’ve seen before, and they will make more announcements in due time,” Zelnick said.
X user DetectiveSeeds allegedly contacted 90 former Rockstar employees through LinkedIn to enquire about the PC release date. Only three responded, but all claimed that Take-Two and Rockstar “wanted to get the game out before end of fiscal year” – in other words, sometime before April 2027. However, it’s important to bear in mind that these claims cannot be verified, and the information available to ex-employees is always limited. Take this rumor with a huge heap of salt.
GTA 6 price
GTA 6 will cost $79.99 for the Standard Edition and $99.99 for the Ultimate Edition. Below is a breakdown of exactly what you’ll get as bonuses in the Ultimate Edition:
- ’95 GROTTI CHEETAH: Grotti’s signature mid ’90s sports car and ode to Shore Drive, the ’95 Grotti Cheetah is complete with a minimalist, retro-futuristic livery and available to punctuate later-stage action.
- HAWK & LITTLE MORGAN REVOLVERS: His and hers versions of this powerful revolver with classic Vice City stylings sourced from the Vercetti Estate, including palm-tree-etched grips, engraved detailing, and high-performance scope.
- PERSONALIZED WEAPON VARIANTS: Personalized sidearms with detailed engravings for Jason’s Girardi ES9 pistol and Lucia’s Klose K17 pistol.
- VICE CITY STYLE: Whether poolside or side by side, Jason and Lucia can look the part with exclusive outfits, hairstyles, tattoos, and more.
- JASON’S SAFEHOUSE VEHICLES: Switch gears and soak up the sun in an Army fatigue-tinged Dinka Enduro motorcycle or Crest Kayak.
- GANADO RETRO BUILD: Inject some muscle and classic stylings into Jason’s well-worn Vapid Ganado low-riding pickup with exclusive mods.
- SHITZU SQUALO: Perfect for casting in Gambit Bay and reeling in catches of all sorts, this gradient pink and blue Squalo docked at Washington Beach is made open-ocean-ready with an explosives-laden weapons crate.
- ’67 VAPID DOMINATOR BUGGY & GARAGE: A Mud Club monster offering impressive off-road handling for the backwoods of Mount Kalaga and beyond. Conveniently store it at the Paradise Garage in Watson Bay, which features a weapon locker plus a secure place to deposit stolen goods to be fenced.
- GOODTIME GEAR: A capsule collection of apparel and accessories inspired by the Goodtime State’s hit TV show character, Macca the Gator.
- PTT YOUNGIN$ COMPOUND: Raid the compound of one of Southside Vice City’s loudest and most socially active gangs and escape safely to score some special items and distinct contraband.
- CLASSIC CAR COLLECTION: Track down a variety of abandoned classic and work-in-progress project cars and revitalize them to their former glory in this special commission from eccentric collector and local fixer, Wyman.
Special Destinations Only Open for Business with the Ultimate Edition:
- RIDEOUT CUSTOMS: Transform vanilla vehicles into magnificent works of art with detailed interiors, exquisite rims, and donk stylings.
- SARA’S UNISEX SALON: Get signature salon styles for both Jason and Lucia, including facial hair for Jason and makeup and nails for Lucia.
- STOCK 305: Style various unique and exclusive looks for Jason and Lucia at Stockyard’s premier destination for elevated streetwear.
- ELECTRIC FANG TATTOO: Choose from over 50 signature tattoos for both Jason and Lucia – all designed by the artist collective FAILE at Stockyard’s most iconic ink bar.
- ONE-EYED WILLIE’S: Visit Lake Leonida’s storied mod shop, specializing in off-road modifications and hand-painted automotive artistry.
GTA 6 Game Pass
Whether we’re talking about the console or PC release, there is some certainty that Grand Theft Auto 6 won’t be coming to Game Pass on day one. In a recent interview, Zelnick confirmed that a GTA 6 Game Pass day one launch will not be happening.
There have been ongoing rumors of a GTA 6 marketing exclusivity agreement between Rockstar and Sony for many months now, and the release of trailer 2 lends credence to that speculation. Not only was this trailer captured on PS5, but the appearance of a Dualshock-like controller on Jason and Lucia’s coffee table leaves us confident that Rockstar is not actively courting Xbox Game Pass.
GTA 6 trailers
The latest reveal premiered on Netflix in August 2026, before making its way to platforms like YouTube, it was the first official time we saw gameplay for GTA 6.
Also, GTA 6 trailer 2 dropped on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, less than a week after the initial release date confirmation. It introduces our two protagonists, Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, reuniting after Lucia gets out of prison. Together, they embark on a Bonnie-and-Clyde-style crime spree across Vice City songs, with some choice songs from the GTA 6 soundtrack peppered throughout.
The trailer 2 description includes a full synopsis of the GTA 6 story: “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 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 first GTA 6 trailer was released earlier than anticipated due to widespread leaks. It was originally scheduled to drop on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, but Rockstar Games made it available to view a day earlier due to the breach. Trailer 1 is approximately 91 seconds long and verifies rumors that the series is returning to Vice City. It features several prominent GTA 6 locations, including the Malibu Club and Ocean Drive.
The surprise release of trailer 2 follows months of heavy speculation. One GTA 6 trailer 2 release date theory convinced some fans that a surprise trailer drop was due seven months prior. While this theory has since been debunked, it’s worth bearing in mind that Rockstar has hidden easter eggs for GTA 6 in previous GTA Online updates.
Rumors that GTA 6 would have a surprise appearance at Gamescom 2025 took flight since eagle-eyed attendees spotted Rockstar’s logo on a booth facade. However, Rockstar’s presence was in the form of closed-door business meetings rather than GTA 6 trailers or announcements
The Golden Joystick Awards 2025 proved that GTA 6 doesn’t need to be on store shelves to scoop up accolades. It took home the awards for Best Game Trailer and Most Anticipated Game, going two-for-two on nominations. Trailer 1 also holds the record for the most-viewed trailer on YouTube
“We are in the business of eating red meat for breakfast. I think we’ll be having a lot more red meat in the coming months,” Zelnick teased in the Take-Two earnings call held in February 2026. This suggests that marketing for GTA 6, including new trailers, will kick off in earnest in the summer.
GTA 6 news
Despite the major setback of leaked game footage, Rockstar released a statement to clarify that while it was “extremely disappointed” that early footage had leaked, work on “the next Grand Theft Auto will continue as planned.”
Rockstar later confirmed that “active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series was well underway” in a community update on February 4, 2022. As part of the studio’s announcement that it was winding down support for Red Dead Online, Rockstar confirmed that more resources were being diverted to “the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series.”
Former Rockstar environmental artist David O’Reilly stated that he worked on GTA 6 for five years prior to his departure from the company in 2023, which places GTA 6’s development timeline at eight years all told.
A recent leak posits that GTA 6 will be around 75 hours long, including five chapters and a prologue, but this cannot be verified. Zelnick suggested in a 2019 interview with GamesIndustry.biz that better development tools and bigger teams could shorten the gaps between game releases. It could also mean that “games may be a bit shorter” while still being robustly supported post-launch.
Mitigating GTA 6 crunch time is another reason the next GTA 6 could be shorter. As Kotaku says in its report in 2020: “One plan that management has laid out for the next game, a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, is to start with a moderately sized release (which, by Rockstar’s standards, would still be a large game) that is then expanded with regular updates over time, which may help mitigate stress and crunch.”
YouTuber, Saukko505, recently made a video delving into the overall operating cost of Rockstar in the hopes of deducing just how much it has spent creating GTA 6 so far. While the numbers aren’t exact, it looks fairly likely that GTA 6’s budget could be well over the 2 billion dollar mark – 20 times the reported development cost of GTA V.
GTA 6 story
Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser outlined his involvement – or lack thereof – in GTA 6’s story during a conversation with IGN at LA Comic Con. “I wrote the last ten or 11 of them so I think the world has probably had enough GTA from me,” he confirmed. “There’s always a new story. It’s not going to be a story I’ve written or character set that I’ve developed.”
In a conversation with Lex Fridman, Houser says stepping away from GTA “is a big change” but that it would be “sadder” to miss out on RDR3 than GTA 6. Given Houser’s extensive involvement in the GTA series, his omission from GTA 6 might spell a different tone for its 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. The proliferation of social media posts provides 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.
We also get our first proper introduction to Lucia, the first of GTA 6’s two main protagonists. She appears in orange prison garb, conversing with a prison counselor. 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 than Lucia. The two have an intimate relationship, though their romantic feelings for one another will surely be put to the test.
In a brief voiceover, Lucia appears to be addressing Jason 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 hand. 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.
Trailer 2 introduced a slew of new GTA 6 characters, including Jason’s friend and full-time conspiracy theorist Cal Hampton, club legend and drug kingpin Boobie Ike, and viral rapper duo Real Dimez. Each of these characters has its own part to play in Jason and Lucia’s story, though they all ultimately serve their own interests.
In terms of cast, we might see a GTA 6 John Cena character join the story. This follows a cryptic Instagram post from the actor and professional wrestler himself, whose credits extend to videogames as well as film and TV. While this could just be an expression of excitement for the release date, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that we’ll encounter Cena on the mean streets of Vice City in the future.
Rapper Skrilla has claimed that his viral song “Doot Doot (6 7)” will also make an appearance. “Definitely going to be me and my own person [GTA character] on there, playing my own music,” he said. This joins T-Pain’s claim that he’s also working on GTA 6, plus ongoing speculation that Floridian artists DJ Khaled and Pitbull are collaborating with Rockstar, too. More recently, Sydney-based band Panama let slip on Instagram that their song Back to Life will “be on GTA 6,” though this comment was quickly removed.
GTA 6 gameplay
As for what GTA 6 gameplay we can see from the leaks, there’s not much that’s different from GTA 5. Ex-Rockstar developer Obbe Vermeij predicts that “people might be a little disappointed” on the GTA 6 release date in an interview with creator SanInPlay, though he maintained it will still “be the best game out there.”
In terms of 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.A former dev has suggested that the GTA 6 map should be smaller and more densely packed.
As leaks have continued to trickle out of Rockstar, modders have recreated the GTA 6 map in GTA 5’s engine, which provides a sense of its massive scale. A recent version of the mapping project incorporates key locations outside of Vice City itself such as Leonida Keys, Port Gellhorn, and Grassrivers.
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. The GTA Online mission creator tools are proof of how malleable the sandbox can be, and we expect them to follow through into GTA 6’s online mode as well.
As you might expect, drivable vehicles include GTA 6 cars and boats, while public transportation lets players fast travel across the city. In addition, the cars seem to allow players to adjust the wheel’s position, chair angles, and other controls. However you choose to get around, ex-Rockstar developer Ben Hinchcliffe asserts that creative freedom will be a priority, to “still allow the player to do […] weird things.”
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.
A recent report suggests a GTA 6 metaverse is in the works, similar to Fortnite and Roblox. This would be powered by user-generated content, allowing creators to “modify the game’s environment and assets to bring their own intellectual property – and potentially their brand sponsors – into GTA’s virtual sandbox.” This comes after rumors that Rockstar Games has reached out to Roblox and Fortnite creators to discuss how they might create in-game custom content for GTA 6.
Is generative AI in GTA 6?
The rise of generative AI has fueled fears that dev teams could instead be cut in favor of the new technology. In October 2025, Zelnick made it very clear that a game like GTA 6 could never be made using AI, claiming “there is no creativity that can exist by definition in any AI model, because it is data-driven.”
Zelnick went on to confirm that GTA 6 will have no generative AI in the Take-Two earnings call held in February 2026. “[GTA is] built from the ground up, building by building, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood,” he said. “They’re not procedurally generated; they shouldn’t be. That’s what makes great entertainment.”
“These tools may help you create assets, but that won’t help you create hits,” he went on to say in an interview with Christopher Dring on The Game Business Show. “You can create assets that might look like a big release […] but creating a hit of that magnitude is a completely different animal and does require human engagement; does require human creativity.”
Rockstar’s anti-AI stance was reaffirmed by Dan Houser in an appearance on Virgin Radio UK’s Chris Evans Breakfast Show. “AI is gonna eventually eat itself,” Houser says. “The models scour the internet for information, but the internet’s going to get more and more full of information made by the models. So it’s sort of like when we fed cows with cows and got Mad Cow Disease.”
However, it seems that this blanket stance might be shifting. Two weeks after laying off Take-Two’s AI team, Zelnick suggested that the technology has some merits. “I think people spend too much time talking about the ‘woe is me’ risk related to AI,” he said at the Semafor World Economy summit. “For better or for worse, it’s going to come along anyhow – you might as well embrace it. In my opinion, largely, technology has been a great thing for humanity, and I don’t think this will be any different.”
And that’s our roundup of the GTA 6 release date news. We don’t have a long time to wait until the sequel to one of the best PC games arrives. In the meantime, check out Grand Taking Ages, a management game that parodies GTA 6’s development, or try your hand at the predicted Grand Theft Auto 6 requirements over on PCGameBenchmark to answer the question… “Can I run GTA 6?”
