GTA 6 has not yet been announced, but here is everything we know about the next Rockstar open-world sandbox on the way.
Since its debut in 1997, Grand Theft Auto (GTA) has become one of the biggest entertainment franchises in the world.
The last mainline entry came in 2013's GTA V, which has sold over 185 million units as of August 2023 (via Statista).
Despite it being over a decade since GTA V first hit store shelves, developer Rockstar Games has remained tight-lipped about the inevitable sequel.
GTA 6 Release Date: When Will It Come Out?
No official announcement for Grand Theft Auto 6 has been revealed, let alone a specific release date; however, hints as to where it could fall have started to trickle out over the last year.
Currently, speculation has the game dropping sometime between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025.
This information came from an August 2023 Take-Two investors call, where the video game publisher revealed it was expecting "record levels" of sales for fiscal year 2025 (per Eurogamer):
"We are confident that the actions our teams are taking this year are preparing us for a strong trajectory of growth. Through our collective efforts, we continue to believe that we are positioning our business for a significant inflection point in fiscal 2025 that will culminate in us delivering new record levels of operating performance next year and beyond."
While no confirmation of a GTA 6 release, with the way the publisher is talking about the incoming fiscal year, it is expecting a financial "inflection point" the scale of which only Grand Theft Auto could deliver.
Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick previously teased in a quarterly earning press release (via IGN) that "fiscal 2025" would see the company publish "several groundbreaking titles" that would result in "over $1 billion in Adjusted Unrestricted Operating Cash Flow:"
"Looking ahead, Fiscal 2025 is a highly anticipated year for our Company... For the last several years, we have been preparing our business to release an incredibly robust pipeline of projects that we believe will take our company to even greater levels of success. In Fiscal 2025, we expect to enter this new era by launching several groundbreaking titles that we believe will set new standards in our industry and enable us to achieve over $8 billion in Net Bookings and over $1 billion in Adjusted Unrestricted Operating Cash Flow. We expect to sustain this momentum by delivering even higher levels of operating results in Fiscal 2026 and beyond."
Again, this all but confirms that GTA 6 will be released sometime before March 31, 2025, being one of a select few video game franchises to even sniff that sort of rarified financial success.
GTA 6 Trailer Release: When Will It Be Online?
Rumors of the first GTA 6 trailer have been swirling for months.
Every few weeks, it seems a new report comes out with supposed insider info on when fans can expect to see the game for the first time.
The hard part in predicting a GTA 6 trailer release is how different Rockstar operates compared to the rest of the industry.
The gaming giant usually avoids major events that would typically see high-profile game announcements (i.e. E3 or The Game Awards). Instead, the company usually works on its promotional calendar.
This means that a GTA 6 trailer could drop at any moment with little to no hype or build-up.
As of late, the GTA 6 trailer rumor mill has been in overdrive. The latest report has a trailer coming time before the end of 2023, with some even speculating it could come as soon as early November.
In late October, the Rockstar official website video page underwent a background update that had some wondering if a trailer could be imminent. This update did not seem to feature any visible changes, but looking at the back end, eagle-eyed fans, like TGG on X (formerly Twitter), could see something was changed or uploaded.
However, GTA insider GTAmen has since shut these rumors down, remarking, "There isn't ANYTHING that indicates a GTA 6 announcement is close:"
"There isn't ANYTHING that indicates a 'GTA 6' announcement is close. Zero.
If we don't hear anything before Nov 7th, we won't get an announcement this year. That day Take2 does another conference call. Where just like 'RDR1' big stuff gets announced right before.
Sorry to be the bringer of bad news. I'm just as excited as you are, if not more excited, but I feel that we have been going down a dangerous path that sets the wrong expectations and least to people getting upset."
If the game is going to release sometime before March 2025, then an announcement trailer around a year out feels about right.
GTA V's first trailer dropped two years before it was eventually released, but that was after the game was delayed six months from its original release date of March 2013. And Rockstar's last game, Red Dead Redemption 2, had similar timing with ita debut trailer coming out two years before release.
So should the game be set to come out in late 2024 or early 2025, an announcement trailer could drop at any moment.
GTA 6 Map: How Big Will It Be?
After having spent the last decade in GTA V's Los Santos (a satirized Los Angeles and surrounding areas), gamers are eager to know where the series will go with GTA 6 and just how big the map will be.
For about as long as there have been rumors of GTA 6, there has been the assumption the game would take players back to the fictionalized version of Miami, Vice City.
The last time the GTA locale was seen was in 2002's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
While that game took place in a 1980s version of the Sunshine State, gameplay leaks for GTA 6 seemingly confirmed the upcoming sequel will feature a modern version of the iconic city and surrounding area.
However, the exciting part about GTA 6 is the map may not stop there. Every other Grand Theft Auto title has featured a fairly rigid open world, with the map coming in the box being the only place for gamers to explore.
That could all change for GTA 6. In June 2021, insider Tom Henderson revealed he heard Rockstar was looking into a larger, expanding map for the upcoming title. This would mean over the lifecycle of Grand Theft Auto 6 (and probably more importantly its upper popular online component), the map could get bigger for the open-world title, perhaps bringing in areas like GTA VI's Liberty City and potentially others.
What Is Known About GTA 6's Story & Characters?
After months of reports on the subject, the 2022 leaks of GTA 6 finally confirmed a few story details for the upcoming sequel.
The game will feature dual protagonists, Jason and Lucia, in a story that has been described as "influenced by Bonnie and Clyde" (via The Verge).
Years before the game leaked, there had been talk of the series' first female protagonist, who would also be Latina. These reports were confirmed when audiences accidentally got an early look at an unfinished version of the game by way of the massive gameplay leak.
Aside from that, story details remain unknown.
As is the case with most other GTA games, 6's primary narrative will likely focus on (in this case) two characters who are about to take advantage of the system or have been left behind by society, leading them to a life of crime.
In June 2021, it was revealed that the controversial subject of cryptocurrency could play into the GTA 6 story:
"I heard recently that in 'GTA 6,' some missions will reward [players] in bitcoin instead of cash for completing some missions. The stock market feature will return, with the addition of a broker for different cryptocurrencies. If 'GTA 6' incorporates this right, it's huge for crypto."
This would make sense as the GTA series is known for its pointed commentary on modern America. And seeing as cryptocurrency and the world of the blockchain are two of the biggest developments in finance since the release of GTA 5, Rockstar would be remised not to include references to the new technology.
No release date has been announced for Grand Theft Auto 6, but it is expected to be released sometime before March 2025.
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