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GTA 6 Release Date Estimate, Trailers, and Latest Rockstar Games News
The eagerly awaited release of Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6) is set for autumn 2025, according to Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games. This announcement, made during Take-Two's latest earnings call, has sparked immense interest. The GTA 6 trailer, released in December after a leak, has already garnered over 190 million views on YouTube.
Massive Anticipation for GTA6 Release
Gaming industry analyst Piers Harding-Rolls stated that the extended development period indicates GTA 6 will be "the most expensive game ever made." Rockstar Games is renowned for its thorough development process, ensuring high-quality releases. Despite the long wait, the ongoing success of GTA 5 has reduced pressure on Rockstar to expedite the new game. GTA 5, released over a decade ago, continues to be a major revenue source, having sold 200 million units worldwide and experiencing a 35% audience growth last year. It's the second best-selling video game ever, second only to Minecraft. However, the delayed release of GTA 6 may be a setback for console platform companies and game retailers who hoped for an earlier launch in 2025.
Expected GTA6 Launch Window
Considering how long it takes to make an open world game of the same quality as Grand Theft Auto 5, it's no surprise that GTA 6 has been in development by Rockstar Games for years. Like most developers, though, Rockstar likes to keep a lid on its secrets until it's almost finished – and the latest reports say the release date could be sooner than you think. Grand Theft Auto 6’s release date has been in the cards for quite some time. Last year, early gameplay leaks of the game surfaced online, along with source code and early game development footage. Since then, there's been a lot of talk and speculation about the game's release date.
GTA6 Official Release Timeline
GTA 6 is expected to release in January to April 2025 for both Xbox and PS5. Take-Two’s final quarter earnings call is expected to announce the exact release date on May 16th, 2024. The trailer confirms the game’s release for consoles in 2025, while a subsequent press release clarifies that the PC version will arrive later in the year. Take-Two Interactive’s fiscal 2025 targets indicate a significant turning point in the company’s performance, with the company aiming for record operating results. Rumours have circulated that GTA 6 will be delayed due to production issues. However, according to Bloomberg, Jason Schreier, Rockstar may need to go through a “crash period” to avoid delaying the release of the game into 2026. The PC version of the game is expected to arrive in Q1, 2026.
GTA6 Development Insights
Rockstar has stated that "active development" of the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is "well underway" and poised to enter its "next phase of growth in fiscal 2025." This is crucial for Take-Two to achieve its financial targets. Take-Two’s stock price surged following the GTA 6 launch announcement, and this trend is expected to continue with further revelations. GTA 6 is expected to enter "the final stages" of development in April 2024, according to Bloomberg. Rockstar is also taking steps to prevent a future security breach by asking employees to go back to work for five days per week during this hectic period. Ubisoft CEO Yves GUillemot recently told investors that the release date for GTA 6 will be closer to the end of "financial year '26" than the end of "25" in an earnings call. That would put the release date for "GTA 6" closer to "April 2025," but Guillemot added that "I don't know exactly when that will be." Rockstar Lincoln recently posted a job for a localization tester. The job is a one-year, fixed-term contract at the developer's in-house QA studio. The posting states that the tester will be responsible for "ensuring the highest possible final product quality." Some fans have interpreted this as a hint that we might see the final product within the next year.
GTA6 Trailer Teasing New Features
The first trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 was released earlier than expected due to numerous leaks. Originally, the trailer was set to drop on Tuesday 5, 2023. However, Rockstar Games has now made the trailer available to view after the leak. According to Rockstar Games President Sam Houser, the first GTA 6 trailer will arrive in "early December" according to Rockstar Games X's official Twitter account. Fans were quick to jump on the bandwagon after a trailer playlist for GTA 6 mysteriously appeared on the game's official YouTube channel, only to find out it was an auto-generated playlist.
Trailer 1 confirms that the release date for GTA 6 is 2025. The trailer is about 91 seconds long and confirms that the series is coming back to Vice City. The trailer shows off some of the most iconic locations in GTA 6, such as the Malibu Club, Ocean Drive, and more. The trailer also introduces our two main characters, Lucia and Jason. They are thrown together in an unlikely situation and forced to cooperate in a bit of a Bonnie and Clyde-style scenario.
GTA 6 trailer 2 is expected to drop sometime this year, either in May or August. This prediction is based on X (formerly known on Twitter as SynthPotato) users, as well as GTAV_Countdown, based on Rockstar's pre-release marketing campaigns for their previous games.Take-Two CFO, Lainie Goldstein, revealed on a recent earnings call that the company expects to see a little over $7 billion in net bookings in fiscal year 2025. She also teased that the pipeline for the game will be "groundbreaking next year and beyond." If this prediction holds true, we can expect to see a third trailer for GTA 6 in December 2024 – just after the first trailer drops – and then a more.
Leaked GTA6 Gameplay Details
In one of the largest data breaches in history, 90 videos were leaked on September 18, 2022. The test footage showed the player playing as a male character and a female character, as part of a “Bonnie and Clyde”-style duo named Jason and “Lucia,” according to Bloomberg. One of the most notable clips showed the player controlling Lucia while she and Jason held up a diner, similar to the scene at the end of “Pulp Fiction.” Other videos showed Lucia on a street corner watching the traffic pass by in the daylight, while Jason visited a nightclub. Since the release of the test footage, the person responsible for the leak has been arrested. Another GTA 6 leak appeared on TikTok a few days before the release date of the game, showing a brief glimpse of its map. However, the leak was overshadowed by the release of the game's trailer, which was released less than 24 hours before the official release.
Rockstar's Response to GTA6 Leaks
Rockstar has released a statement saying that while they are "very disappointed" by the leak of early game footage, work on the upcoming Grand Theft Auto game will go ahead as planned. The developers have also promised fans that they will keep everyone updated and will introduce them to the game when it's ready. Rockstar has been working on Grand Theft Auto 6 since the February 4 community update, when they said that they are "actively developing" the next game in the series and that they want to make sure it "exceeds players' expectations". Whatever it is, fans can rest assured that it will be "special" and "exciting". Rockstar also announced that more resources will be dedicated to the upcoming game, following their announcement of Red Dead Online support.
According to Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two Interactive CEO, better development tools and larger teams could shorten the gap between game releases. “Games may be a little shorter,” he said in a 2019 interview, “but they’ll still be robustly supported after launch.” Another reason why the next GTA 6 may be shorter is that it could help reduce crunch time. According to Kotaku’s 2020 report, “one plan that management has outlined for the next game — a new Grand Theft Auto entry — is to begin with a modest release (which Rockstar would still consider a large game by its own standards) and then expand with regular updates as time goes on, which could help reduce stress and crunch. Rockstar employees have been vocal about the positive changes they’re making after the scrutiny they received following the crunch time of Red Dead Redemption 2.”
GTA6 Storyline Revealed
The trailer gave us a lot of details about the story in GTA 6. It's pretty clear that the game is set in a more modern-day version of Vice City, rather than the '80s, as evidenced by the abundance of social media posts showing off Rockstar's exaggerated version of Miami. From alligator-riding, to twerking by the side of the road, to a middle-aged lady in a nightie, slippers, and two hammers, it's easy to see why. While we've seen hints of this kind of social media in previous GTA 5 games, this latest iteration of Vice City already shows that the more things are changed, the more they remain the same. Lucia is the first of the two main characters to appear in the trailer. She's wearing orange prison garb and is talking to a prison counsellor. She shrugs and says, "It's bad luck, I guess." It's unclear if this cutscene is at the start of her story or the end, but it's likely that the story will follow her through her time in prison.
We also get a look at Jason, the other GTA 6 protagonist and Lucia's partner, though he's not as big a player in the story as Lucia. They have a buddy-buddy relationship like Bonnie and Clyde, but their true feelings for each other are yet to be fully revealed. In a short voiceover, Lucia tells him that the only way to get out of this mess is to stick together and be a team. This teamwork is evident in a tense cutscene as they escape the cops in a stolen car, dollar bills in Lucia's hands. We also see them storm into convenience stores or other buildings with their faces covered and guns raised in multiple instances. One thing's for sure: it's one crime spree we won't want to miss out on. While leaks have featured Lucia before, there were rumours going around that a playable female character would be coming soon. Some eagle-eyed users on GTA Forums have been keeping an eye out for this female voice talent.
When it comes to the GTA 6 map, some fans have speculated that if the leak's calculations are correct, Vice City and its surroundings could be twice the size of the Los Santos map in GTA 5 – though a former dev has said that the map in GTA 6 will be smaller and denser. Rumors also say that the campaign's map will be altered through DLC to add new areas or update existing ones based on the theme of the DLC. And it won't just be the campaign map that's changing, either. The new GTA Online mode could take place on an 'evolving map' that changes with every update, similar to how Fortnite's map changes with each new season.
Enhanced GTA 6 Gameplay Mechanics
From what we can gather from the leaks, the gameplay in GTA 6 is pretty much the same as in GTA 5. One of the leaks shows Lucia – who we assume is the player – holding a diner hostage while trying to prevent the hostage from escaping by shooting him in the back as he ran away. Another shows Jason and Lucia stealing one of the cops' cars and driving down the street. Jason leans out of the moving car while firing an assault rifle. Driveable vehicles in GTA 6 include cars and boats, and the Metro allows you to move around the city efficiently. The cars also appear to allow you to change the wheel's position, the angle of your chair, and other controls.
Raw test footage provides more information on movement mechanics, such as cover, crouch, and crawling, and the playable character can cover his face with his hands or with a GTA 6 weapon to avoid headshots. At one point of the test footage, we can see Jason looking around a convenience store using the new vision ability, which looks a lot like Deadeye from Red Dead Redemption, but at this stage, we can only see it changing the color of footage.
Anticipation Builds for GTA 6 Release
Grand Theft Auto 6 is the game that the gaming world has been waiting for, and it’s only getting more and more exciting with each passing day. With the game set to hit shelves in 2025 and a return to the streets of Vice City, it’s safe to say that fans are in for a treat. With Rockstar Games’ reputation for quality and innovation, there’s no reason to believe that GTA 6 won’t live up to or surpass expectations. Keep an eye out for more updates as we get closer to the release date, and get ready for an open-world adventure that’s sure to shake up the entire industry.
