GTA 6 — Everything We Know: Release Date, Pre-Orders, Cover Art, Map, Characters, and Gameplay

The summer of 2026 brought two major moments for GTA 6. First, on June 18, Rockstar Games launched the full marketing campaign for GTA 6: the studio announced the pre-order date, revealed the official cover art for the first time, and updated the logo. On June 25, pre-orders began opening across regions, revealing prices, editions, and bonuses. Then, in late August, Rockstar finally showed the game in motion with the "An Extended Look" gameplay presentation — its first major showcase in nearly a year and a half. We have gathered everything currently known about Grand Theft Auto 6 in one place — from its release date and price to the map, characters, gameplay, and online mode. Some details have been officially confirmed by Rockstar, some come from press previews, and others from leaks and datamining; we identify those separately.

GTA 6 will be released on Thursday, November 19, 2026 — only on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. There will be no versions for last-generation consoles. According to the PlayStation Store, the game will become available at midnight local time in each region, meaning players in New Zealand will be the first to play it.

The current date is already the third one announced. Rockstar originally promised to release the game in 2025, then delayed it to May 26, 2026, and in November 2025 pushed it back once again — to November 19, explaining the move as a need to bring the project to the required level of polish. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has since repeatedly confirmed that there will be no more delays. The first trailer was released in December 2023, timed to Rockstar's 25th anniversary, while the second arrived in May 2025. There is still no third trailer. By the time GTA 6 launches, 13 years will have passed since the previous numbered entry, GTA 5, which came out in September 2013 — the longest gap in the history of the series.

The game can be pre-ordered through PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, Rockstar Games Store, and select retail partners. Digital preloads will begin on November 12, one week before release.

Rockstar did not release a third trailer alongside the pre-orders, but it did publish a large collection of new images showing the Ultimate Edition and Vintage Vice City Pack bonuses.

We have compiled more details in a separate article about GTA 6 pre-orders.

The standard edition of GTA 6 costs $79.99, while the Ultimate Edition is priced at $99.99. The long-running rumors of a $100 base edition therefore proved false, although the game still costs more than the usual $69.99 price for major releases.

GTA 6 is not the first game to launch at $79.99: Mario Kart World had already crossed the psychological $80 barrier.

Rockstar has confirmed two main editions of GTA 6. The standard edition costs $79.99 and includes the complete single-player campaign. The $99.99 Ultimate Edition adds premium vehicles, weapons, clothing, and other bonuses that will be unlocked throughout Jason and Lucia's story.

The Ultimate Edition includes the 1995 Grotti Cheetah, Dinka Enduro motorcycle, Crest kayak, Shitzu Squalo boat, and special versions of the Vapid Ganado and Dominator Buggy. It also features exclusive revolvers, personalized handguns for Jason and Lucia, modern clothing, tattoos, hairstyles, and other cosmetic items.

All pre-orders, as well as copies purchased by November 20, 2026, include the Vintage Vice City Pack. It contains a 1955 Vapid Stanier and its garage, vintage clothing and hairstyles, and a special weapon finish inspired by the look of 1980s Vice City.

Digital pre-orders also include one free month of GTA+.

The physical edition will go on sale on November 12, but the box will contain a download code rather than a disc. Rockstar has not announced a separate disc-based edition.

Alongside the pre-order announcement, Rockstar showed the official cover art for the first time and updated the game's logo and social media branding to match it. The artwork uses the series' signature collage style: Jason and Lucia are in the center, surrounded by scenes from the game world. There is a helicopter above Vice City's neon skyscrapers, a biker pulling a wheelie right in front of the police, a woman in a bikini holding an energy drink can, a colorful character covered in gold, an alligator in the middle of a swamp, a yellow supercar, an armed robber against the backdrop of a Simmons bank sign, and a boat full of people with a pink flamingo flying past it. The cover art was immediately released as a free wallpaper.

GTA 6 cover. Share:

However, Rockstar still did not show a full new trailer, even though many expected it to arrive together with the pre-order details. Even so, the cover art itself instantly spread across the internet and sparked heated discussion.

GTA 6 is set in the state of Leonida — a fictional version of modern-day Florida. The center of the world is once again Vice City, a reimagined modern Miami, which the series has not returned to since 2002's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. In addition to the metropolis, Rockstar has officially named five more regions: Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia, Mount Kalaga National Park, Grassrivers, and the Leonida Keys — a chain of small islands inspired by the real Florida Keys. The world includes swamps, coastlines, protected natural areas, and a lot of water.

Rockstar has not revealed the exact size of the map, but according to press previews, Leonida is the largest map in the studio's history — roughly twice the size of GTA 5's map and around three times the size of Red Dead Redemption 2's world. According to leaks, the game will feature more than 700 interiors that players can enter, from clubs and shopping malls to pawn shops, with the state split into several counties — the southeast is heavily urbanized around Vice City, while the west and north are forests and swamps.

Rockstar also stresses that not everything is marked on the map: some optional content does not appear as a ready-made objective marker and is instead found as a reward for exploring away from the campaign. The Extended Look showcased the coastal Bayside district — graffiti, waterways, and airboat rides — along with an airport, swampy suburbs, and a network of bridges linking the offshore islands.

At the center of the story is a criminal duo in the spirit of Bonnie and Clyde. Jason Duval is a former soldier who grew up around criminals. After the army, he settled in the Florida Keys and worked for local drug runners. He is the first protagonist in the main series with a military background. Lucia Caminos grew up in Liberty City, has known how to fight since childhood, after being taught by her father, and leaves a Leonida prison at the beginning of the game. Lucia is the first female protagonist in the story campaign of a numbered GTA, which alone makes her one of the most significant heroines in the history of the series. The two complement each other: Jason relies on force and direct confrontation and usually drives during the getaway, while Lucia is the "brains" of the operation, handling stealth, undercover work, and planning.

According to the official synopsis, an "easy job" — a quick attempt to make money — goes wrong, and the pair are pulled into a criminal conspiracy stretching across the entire state. Now they have to rely on each other more than ever. Unlike GTA 5, which had three protagonists, this game has only two playable characters, and their storylines form a single narrative told from two perspectives. The campaign is divided into chapters in the manner of Red Dead Redemption 2, and the relationship between the pair shifts based on the player's actions — Rockstar promises choices with consequences and is designing the game with replayability in mind (multiple endings, however, have not been officially confirmed). Studio boss Rob Nelson has mentioned that his own playthrough of the main story together with some side content took around 80 hours, but that is his personal pace rather than an official runtime: a clean run of the campaign will be noticeably shorter.

Surrounding the duo is a full ensemble of supporting characters: Cal Hampton, Jason's homebody friend who enjoys listening in on Coast Guard communications and joining him for fishing trips; Boobie Ike, a local Vice City legend and owner of a strip club, real estate, and a recording studio; Dre'Quan Priest and his music project Real Dimez, which Ike is betting on; bank robber Raul Bautista, who is putting together a crew; semi-retired drug runner Brian Heder and his wife Lori, in whose property Jason lives in exchange for collecting debts; Stephanie, the social worker assigned to Lucia after prison; and businessman Andre De Leon, whose protection at a party becomes one of the missions shown in the presentation.

There are also rumors about returning characters from previous games — for example, some fans believe the woman who hires the pair to protect De Leon is Valentina from GTA Online, and names like DJ Cara and Lester have come up as well. But these are guesses based on visual resemblance and references: officially, Rockstar has not confirmed a single returning character.

More details about the setup and characters can be found in our large feature covering all official information, leaks, and theories.

Rockstar has not officially revealed the cast. According to the most persistent rumors, Jason is voiced by Dylan Rourke, while Lucia is played by Manni L. Perez: fans point to physical resemblance, social media connections, and indirect clues. Other names have also been mentioned, but all of this remains speculation, not confirmed information. The studio itself has not confirmed anything yet.

On August 27, 2026, Rockstar revealed the long-awaited gameplay of GTA 6. The 26-minute video, "Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look," premiered exclusively on Netflix, and arrived on Rockstar's YouTube channel and the official site about six hours later — so Netflix subscribers saw it first. It was the game's first full gameplay demonstration and the longest video showcase in the studio's history. Demand was so high that the premiere briefly overwhelmed Netflix's servers, and right after the showcase IGN published 20 new official screenshots.

The showcase was preceded by a major wave of leaks from the CYBERLEEK group, which only made the gaming world more eager for official details (more on that in the CYBERLEEK section below). The video itself was built around atmosphere and characters rather than a raw demonstration of systems: there was relatively little continuous, player-controlled gameplay, but the level of cinematic presentation and world detail exceeded expectations. Everything shown in the presentation and the accompanying previews is broken down by topic in the sections below.

The main thing Rockstar is showing off is the visuals: the trailers and the Extended Look demonstrate advanced lighting, including ray-traced global illumination, detailed interiors, realistic water, and weather. Graphically, GTA 6 already looks better than Red Dead Redemption 2. The demonstration was captured on a standard (non-Pro) PlayStation 5 running the RAGE engine, in 4K and 30 frames per second; Rockstar has not yet confirmed 60 fps support or a first-person mode at launch.

GTA 6 can be played as a pair or separately, and switching between Jason and Lucia is mapped to the "down" button on the D-pad, working for nearly the entire game — including mid-mission and during a chase. As a duo, one drives while the other shoots from the window or scrolls through in-game social media; the pair share a bank balance and an arsenal, and the inactive partner assists in combat. There are no loading screens between gameplay and cutscenes, and the transitions are, according to the studio, smoother than the character swaps in GTA 5.

Rockstar describes the combat as a serious step up from GTA 5 — closer to RDR2 with elements of Max Payne 3. The showcase backed this up: a cover system, shooting a variety of weapons, slow-motion on finishing blows, the ability to pick up weapons from the ground (an M16 was spotted), and Lucia firing a shotgun one-handed while dodging a melee strike. Killing enemies is not always required, either: a shot to the arm or leg takes an opponent out of the fight non-lethally, and a precise shot can knock the weapon right out of their hands.

Missions have become more open in structure: buildings can have several escape routes, a chase can play out along different paths, and the same situation can be handled with a riskier or safer approach. The player chooses their role — take the wheel or lay down fire — by switching between the protagonists. Heists are now a key source of income, and you can take them on solo or with a partner; joint jobs affect the couple's relationship. Money matters more to the story than before: at times you need to save up a specific amount to push the campaign forward, earning it by stealing and reselling cars, robbing businesses, and hitting stores and banks. There are wrinkles, too: a safe can be blown open faster, but the blast may damage some of the loot inside, and the police can surround a store or bank and wait outside.

The wanted level now goes up to six stars (the cap in GTA 5 was five; the chase in the showcase reached four). The police don't kick in on their own — a crime needs witnesses; officers remember your appearance, clothing, and vehicle, so shaking a chase means changing your look, getting a new haircut at a barber, or swapping cars. Separate icons under the wanted meter show exactly what the police know, and a criminal profile with statistics is kept on the character. A notable addition is the Focus system: police have been removed from the minimap, and now Focus is what highlights them, along with points of interest, collectibles, and leads for new missions. As in RDR2, leads found out in the open world trigger fresh missions.

Rockstar describes the driving as some of the most immersive in the series, with professional racers consulting on the physics. The detail shows in the small touches: headlights burst one by one in a fire, a convertible's roof folds away. Stealing a car is shown without smashing the glass — a quiet slim-jim entry framed as its own minigame; premium vehicles with electronic locks require a cloned key, and after the theft you have to shake a GPS tracker. Cars now have an interactive trunk you can use to store weapons, clothing, and other items.

The protagonists' lifestyles physically affect them: overeating leads to weight gain, exercise and the gym keep them in shape and build muscle, while lack of sleep and too much partying show on their faces and in their animations (a nod to San Andreas and RDR2). Jason and Lucia text each other, and it matters that you reply; they also notice if you stay away from home for too long. The player effectively decides whether the pair form a strong bond: you can let things sour, and that ripples into gameplay, animations, and the story — though it won't stop the story itself.

The world is noticeably denser and more reactive. According to Rockstar, NPCs have over 600,000 animations compared to 55,000 in GTA 5, and the population varies in body type, height, age, and appearance depending on the district. Pedestrians are frightened by openly carried weapons, notice when they're being followed or eavesdropped on, react differently to provocation, and behave in varied ways rather than following a single script during a store robbery. Social media runs through everything: the phone has a working feed, passersby stream live with a real chat and viewer counter, viral clips spread across Leonida, and local TV channels run shows and ads. Jason and Lucia's home works like the camp from RDR2 — pink accents and plenty of small interactions. There's also a karma system in the spirit of RDR2's honor: actions earn "angel/demon" icons, and dogs can be trained as well as petted.

There is no shortage of side activities: fishing, base jumping with a parachute, races, dirt bikes, basketball, scuba diving, jet skis, kayaks and airboats, gym workouts (you have to hit L2 and R2 on cue), strip clubs and dancing in nightclubs that double as mission hubs, arcade machines, plus purely atmospheric touches like peeking through binoculars or grabbing food and beer from a fridge. There's plenty of the series' trademark satire, too: the antidepressant Angstipan, a 30,000-calorie Prairie sandwich.

On the audio side, a nice touch for recognition: Phil Collins returns to the soundtrack, with one of his songs playing in the scene where a character rides an elevator.

As pre-orders went live, Rockstar shared new details about the game and released dozens of screenshots revealing several full-fledged customization systems and activities in the single-player campaign. Some of the specific businesses players can visit will be exclusive to the Ultimate Edition. However, this does not mean that similar mechanics will be entirely absent from the standard edition.

Rideout Customs allows players to modify not only the bodywork and wheels, but also the detailed interior, premium rims, and donk-style designs featuring oversized wheels and a raised body. This is the first official indication that vehicle interiors will be a separate part of the customization system rather than simply a fixed element of each model.

Another garage, One-Eyed Willie's, specializes in off-road modifications and custom hand-painted designs. This suggests that different garages may have their own specialties, much like gunsmiths and stables in Red Dead Redemption 2.

GTA 6 will allow players to customize:

Previous trailers suggested that players would be able to change hairstyles and that Jason's stubble could grow over time, but makeup and nail customization have now been officially confirmed. During the Extended Look, Lucia changed outfits and hairstyles several times, and clothing stores and salons appear to offer different options depending on the district.

Electric Fang Tattoo will offer more than 50 signature tattoos for Jason and Lucia, created by the art collective FAILE. Rockstar's wording points to an extensive selection for both protagonists rather than just a handful of preset looks.

Stock 305 sells exclusive streetwear for both characters. Rockstar also revealed the Goodtime Gear collection, inspired by the Macca the Gator mascot.

This confirms the return of traditional clothing stores where players can try on items and choose individual outfits. Judging by the descriptions, each shop will have its own selection rather than drawing from a single shared menu.

Jason's safehouse is tied to his personal vehicles, with a Dinka Enduro motorcycle and a Crest kayak stored nearby.

Paradise Garage, which comes bundled with the Vapid Dominator Buggy, includes an armory and storage space for stolen goods. A similar feature is mentioned for the Shore Court Garage included in the Vintage Vice City Pack. This confirms at least the following:

This aligns with leaks suggesting a more restricted inventory system and the ability to store equipment in vehicles.

The garage descriptions explicitly mention areas for storing or fencing stolen goods. PTT YOUNGIN$ is also described as an illegal gang-run outlet whose compound can be raided.

This is one of the most important new details: based on the official descriptions, GTA 6 will feature a separate economy for stolen goods, along with activities involving raids on warehouses containing illegal merchandise. It may be an expanded version of the fence system from Red Dead Redemption 2.

The PTT YOUNGIN$ Compound is described as a gang-run illegal goods outlet in southern Vice City. Players will be able to raid it in search of loot.

This confirms the presence of optional criminal activities outside the main story missions — likely something between raiding hideouts, clearing camps, and searching for valuable cargo. It remains unclear whether these locations will reset or whether players will be able to raid them repeatedly.

The Shitzu Squalo is described as having a gun locker on board. This means that weapon inventories or reserves may be tied not only to cars and safehouses, but also to watercraft.

This indirectly suggests that boats and maritime travel will play a more significant role in Leonida's open world.

Both protagonists have their own versions of specific pistols: Jason's Girardi ES9 and Lucia's Klose K17. It is too early to say whether their stats will differ, as the official description primarily mentions personalized engravings.

However, assigning different weapons to each protagonist may point to separate personal arsenals or character-specific equipment.

Rockstar has specifically clarified that Ultimate Edition content will not be handed to players as a single bundle at the beginning of the game. Items, vehicles, and other features will unlock across different chapters of Jason and Lucia's story.

This confirms that the campaign will be formally divided into chapters, giving it a structure closer to Red Dead Redemption 2 than GTA 5.

Many of the mechanics are still based on the 2022 and 2025 leaks, as well as code analysis, so they should be treated with caution. The community describes an updated car theft system, where premium vehicles have immobilizers, older cars can be opened with a lockpick, and an attempt can fail; a reworked police system with a timer before patrols arrive and attempts at negotiation during robberies; expanded drive-by shootouts, including while swimming; stealth with crouching; tying NPCs with zip ties; and using hostages as human shields. Each protagonist reportedly has their own time-slowing ability in the spirit of Dead Eye from RDR2. Modes called "Solo Jason," "Solo Lucia," and joint control of both characters during robberies have been mentioned, along with the NPC interaction system "Greet / Threaten / Rob," carried over from RDR2. According to various reports, there are more than 200 vehicles — cars, motorcycles, boats, helicopters, and planes with detailed interiors. There also appears to be no shortage of side activities: pool, boxing, basketball, tennis, a gym, fishing, races, and much more.

The August 2026 CYBERLEEK wave added even more: on top of clips featuring Jason, footage of Lucia finally surfaced (a roughly 4.5-minute prologue fragment set in a Leonida prison). Dataminers pulled out a fuel system (refueling also repairs the car), a stamina bar for melee, three separate wanted indicators (appearance / clothing / vehicle), a set of radio stations, and a detail the community is actively discussing — the in-game day is now longer, around 144 minutes versus 48 in GTA 5. None of these findings are officially confirmed.

You can find our detailed breakdown of the second trailer on the site.

According to the wording of Rockstar's latest press release, the version launching on November 19 is specifically the single-player experience. The PlayStation Store page also lists one player and offline play. Journalist Jason Schreier reports that Take-Two is so far discussing GTA 6 only as a single-player game and is not talking about a new GTA Online — so an online mode most likely will not be available at launch.

Rockstar has not announced when the multiplayer component will arrive. A later release would follow the studio's previous approach: GTA Online launched two weeks after GTA 5, while Red Dead Online arrived several months after Red Dead Redemption 2.

It is also worth recalling one of the biggest leaks in industry history. In September 2022, a hacker — the same one who had previously breached Uber — posted more than 90 videos from an early version of GTA 6 online. These hours of gameplay were how fans first saw many of the game's mechanics. He was later convicted.

In August 2026, GTA 6 was hit by a new and even larger wave of leaks. A group calling itself CYBERLEEK released more than a dozen and a half gameplay clips from an unfinished build over the span of a few days, going as far as a separate prologue featuring Lucia. A day before the Extended Look, on August 26, Rockstar publicly addressed the leak for the first time, calling it "heartbreaking" and "not the way we wanted to show you the game": the studio confirmed the footage was genuine, apologized for the long wait, and stressed that the game is nearly finished and will launch on November 19.

The leaks also spawned a legal saga: Take-Two used the federal courts to demand data from Microsoft and Discord in an effort to identify those behind the leak, and Rockstar restricted access to its own Discord. There was a cryptocurrency angle, too: every clip carried a banner for a $CYBERLEEK token, and, by community estimates, around $268,000 was withdrawn from it shortly before the showcase. Our breakdown of the leaks and the crypto scheme is available in the articles about the GTA 6 leaks and GTA 6 leaks and cryptocurrency.

GTA 6 is being called the most expensive game in history — according to various reports, development alone cost more than $1 billion. The stakes are just as high: Take-Two is projecting around $8 billion in revenue for the fiscal year, and almost all of that forecast rests on the November release. Analysts expect the game to sell around 20 million copies in its first day and pass the $1 billion mark within just a few days, which would make GTA 6 the fastest-selling entertainment product in history. According to Sensor Tower, even three months before release the game had racked up around 4.38 million pre-orders worth roughly $429 million, with the high average spend pointing to strong demand for the Ultimate Edition. For comparison, GTA 5 has sold almost 230 million copies to date, while Red Dead Redemption 2 is at around 85 million, the third-best result of all time. We have separately covered how much the most expensive games cost to make.

The latest major delay coincided with a high-profile scandal: in late 2025, Rockstar laid off several dozen employees, which led to protests outside its offices. Workers link the layoffs to an attempt to form a union, while Take-Two insists the reason was a leak of confidential information. We have covered what happened in detail.

Not at launch. On November 19, GTA 6 will be released only on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and Rockstar has not yet announced a date for the PC version. Judging by how the studio handled GTA 5, the PC port should not be expected before 2027, and possibly not until 2028.

GTA 6 comes out on November 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. It's the final date after several delays, and Take-Two says there won't be any more.

The GTA 6 standard edition costs $79.99, and the Ultimate Edition costs $99.99.

GTA 6 is not launching on PC, and Rockstar has not announced a PC release date. Based on how GTA 5 was handled, a PC port likely won't arrive before 2027.

GTA 6 is set in the fictional state of Leonida, a modern version of Florida, centered on Vice City — a reimagined Miami.

The main characters in GTA 6 are the criminal couple Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos. Lucia is the first female protagonist in a numbered GTA story campaign.

The version launching on November 19 is single-player. A new GTA Online mode will most likely follow later, but Rockstar has not announced a date.

Rockstar has not given an official runtime. Studio boss Rob Nelson said his own run of the main story plus some side content took around 80 hours; a focused campaign run will be shorter.

What do you think of GTA 6's official prices and edition bonuses? Is the Ultimate Edition worth the extra $20, or is the standard version enough?