When is the GTA 6 release date? Grand Theft Auto V popped into our lives over 10 years ago now, back when the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were king. Now, with the current-gen consoles here we finally can look forward to the Grand Theft Auto 6 release date, with the game currently in active development and an official GTA 6 trailer out in the ether.
After a decade of GTA 5, it’s about time we got GTA 6, which we’re hoping is one of the best PS5 games and best Xbox games when it finally releases. And considering Rockstar Games’ track record, we believe this is more than likely. After all, GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 are undoubtedly among the best open world games of all time. But for the latest information on Grand Theft Auto 6, here’s what you need to know.
GTA 6 release date window
The GTA 6 release date is expected to arrive in Q1 2025 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. This aligns with the broad “2025” window given in the first official trailer, as well as a 2024-2025 Take-Two Interactive investor report that projected it would make $8 billion in net bookings during that fiscal year – a figure likely only achievable with the release of GTA 6.
Take-Two Interactive projected in the same report to make between $5.45 to $5.55 billion in net bookings in the fiscal year 2023-2024 – the year prior. That jump in revenue projections is more than likely due to the GTA 6 release date arriving in that period. Unless Take-Two has plans to release multiple huge games that year outside of GTA, such as the upcoming fourth Bioshock game, its annual sports titles, 31st Union’s shooter, and more. With that said, we don’t see what other franchises or sets of games could make enough money to explain the increase.
Take Two’s chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick was also very cagey during a CNBC interview, which pressed him on what could cause such an increase in revenue projections. This interview took place before Rockstar officially revealed GTA 6.
Additionally, well-known Rockstar insider ‘Tez2’ on the GTA Forums has also supported the idea that it will be released in this window, saying that Rockstar’s “aimed-always-changing-not-set-in-stone deadline is holiday 2024. Which has been pushed back multiple times in the past few years. Unfortunately, it could slip into early 2025 as well.” As we now know, 2025 is now the official window.
Tez2 also stated in the same comments that they “don’t think the upper management is in a position to delay further to holiday 2025/2026”, adding that upper management would rather cut content out of the game and add it later as DLCs instead of delaying any further.
We’ll keep this guide updated with any more rumors and leaks or official confirmation of a more specific GTA 6 release date.
GTA 6 was officially revealed by Rockstar Games on its social media back in November 2023, following confirmation back in February 2023 that it’s in development. confirming that we’ll get our first look at the game soon. It’s record-shattering first trailer then arrived in December.
GTA 6 platforms
GTA 6 is set to release on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S only at launch, as confirmed by Rockstar in a press release that accompanied the first official trailer. Studio founder Sam Houser says that GTA 6 “continues our efforts to push the limits of what’s possible in highly immersive, story-driven open-world experiences.”
Houser’s words indicate that current-gen hardware is going to be absolutely maxed out, which doesn’t surprise us judging from the scale of the official trailer. As such, don’t hold your breath for a last-gen version – we’re certainly not.
As for PC players, we expect GTA 6 to be released several months post-launch. Considering the reported delays it’s clear that Rockstar wants to get the game out the door as quickly and cleanly as possible – optimizing it for multiple hardware configurations doesn’t compute with that ideology. While this may be frustrating for some, it’s better to give the studio enough time to ensure a seamless port, rather than a buggy mess.
GTA 6 trailers
The first official GTA 6 trailer was initially leaked in early December 2023, with Rockstar opting to officially drop it just hours later. Not only were we finally treated to a banger of a GTA 6 trailer song, but we also got to learn a whole lot more about this new iteration of Vice City.
In the minute-and-a-half-long clip, we’re introduced to the game’s dual protagonists – Lucia, the series’ first woman lead who is seemingly of Latin American descent, and a man who is widely believed to be called Jason (although this has not been explicitly confirmed by Rockstar). We’re also treated to footage of gorgeous vistas, GTA 6 vehicles, and various scenes that are synonymous with Floridian life – big ‘Florida man’ energy.
While we didn’t get any gameplay, the trailer does appear to be rendered using the in-game engine – a promising sign that it’s going to look at least this good, if not better when launch day rolls around. We’re also gassed to see plenty of alligator action taking place and eagerly hope that we’ll be able to keep one as a pet.
GTA 6 location
GTA 6 is set in a fictional representation of the state of Florida, called Leonida. The first trailer of the game shows swamplands reminiscent of the Florida Everglades, a series of islands and bridges that clearly represent the Florida Keys, and confirms previous leaks and speculation that Vice City returns as the main urban area in GTA 6.
The return to Vice City was first known about following gameplay leaks in September 2022 and a report from Bloomberg. This iconic GTA location, which of course is Rockstar’s take on Miami, hasn’t been visited by players in a main series game in over 20 years (that being in the self-titled Grand Theft Auto: Vice City from 2002).
The leaks suggested that GTA 6 would be set in the modern day, and this has since been confirmed by the TikTok-esque social media clips shown in the game’s first trailer.
Given Rockstar’s ambitious vision for Red Dead Redemption 2, we do not doubt that the region of Leonida will be just as rich and likely even larger than its cowboy counterpart. RDR2’s setting even changed over time throughout your playthrough, with the most obvious detail being buildings built and towns growing. Designing detailed and immersive worlds has always been one of Rockstar’s greatest strengths, so we’re excited to see what it looks like in action.
GTA 6 map
Fans have also been hard at work piecing the GTA 6 map of Leonida together following the original development leaks – something that’s only intensified after the release of the first official trailer. So far the possible GTA 6 map size calculation suggests that it could be twice as large as GTA 5’s Los Santos, which is certainly impressive.
These calculations used location coordinates from the leaked footage to determine a potential grid size for the map. Redditor ‘jumbo04’ says that their calculations estimate the GTA 6 map grid size to be over 200 square kilometers – although, as with most game maps, the overworld won’t fill every bit of this grid, so the actual playable space may be smaller than that 200 sq/km figure. For comparison, fan research found that the playable square footage of GTA 5’s map is just over 80 sq/km.
Not only that but according to a report from Kotaku, the map will be constantly expanded over time, with further increases in the size of the map as more content is added, not too dissimilar to a live-service game. This report does state that the map is “moderately sized”, but it does say this is still a large game by Rockstar Games’ standards.
This “expanded with regular updates” map also lines up with Tez2’s comments about the developers cutting out content for DLCs later down the line, as the same report adds that this “may help mitigate stress and crunch”.
We didn’t get any details on the actual map or what it looks like from above in those leaks either, as UI and images weren’t shown. But, this is a pretty good estimation. Given how big some of the best PS5 open-world games and best Xbox open-world games are today too, the size wouldn’t exactly come as a huge surprise.
Of course, these are estimations based on leaked footage of a game that’s still in development and snapshots of a 90-second trailer – take it with a grain of salt. We can only hope that, no matter how big the GTA 6 map is in reality, it maintains Rockstar’s incredibly high bar when it comes to detail and beautifully handcrafted environments.
Don’t expect GTA 6’s Vice City to exactly look like the original version of the city did. With more than two decades in between the iterations of the location, you will probably see a lot of differences when we finally get to see the game in action. But, we wouldn’t be surprised if there are some fun easter eggs or throwbacks too.
GTA 6 leaks
As mentioned throughout this guide, the biggest GTA 6 leak was the gameplay footage that was posted online in September 2022. This leak contained almost 100 clips of gameplay, which were stolen after Rockstar suffered a “network intrusion”. The leaked footage showed areas of the game’s map and some basic gameplay interactions, but the most interesting revelation was that there appeared to be both a male and female protagonist.
Of course, GTA 5 lets players switch between three main characters, but it looks like GTA 6 will give us the series’ first playable female character. The leaks show that she is called Lucia, and the male character is called Jason.
In a statement following the leaks, Rockstar said it was “disappointed” and confirmed the footage was legitimate. However, it also said that the leak would not have any negative “long-term effect on the development of any of our ongoing projects” and that it’s committed to making GTA 6 a game that “truly exceeds expectations”.
There you have it, everything we know about the current state of Rockstar’s next open-world behemoth and when you can expect the GTA 6 release date. GTA 5 is on our list of the best games of all time, so let’s hope the sequel can join it once it finally releases. In the meantime, read up on double edged sword of GTA 5’s legacy and what it means for Rockstar and GTA 6. Otherwise, you can dig into the many new PS5 games and new Xbox games that are coming out before Grand Theft Auto 6.
In the lead-up to the GTA 6 release date, be sure to get your gaming setup ready by indulging in some of the best PS5 accessories and best Xbox accessories around. Considering how gorgeous the game already looks, look to match your console of choice with one of the best TV options to enjoy it in all its splendor.
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