Rob Nelson, co-studio head at Rockstar North, needed 80 hours to get through Grand Theft Auto VI. He shared that figure with Christopher Byrd in a new piece for The New York Times, and it accounts for the main story along with a handful of optional objectives.
A handful. Not the full set.
So if the plan was to block off November 19 and wrap the whole thing up across one long weekend, rethink it. Nelson never said how many side quests he actually tackled during that run, which means the upper limit is anyone’s guess.
What GTA V can tell you about the math
The most useful yardstick is the previous entry. How Long to Beat stats put the average player at 51 and a half hours for Grand Theft Auto V’s main story plus some side quests.
For completionists, the average climbed to 89 and a half hours. The longest run ever logged came in at 132 hours and 36 minutes on the PlayStation 5.
Stack those against Nelson’s 80 and things come into focus. His playthrough already exceeds a standard GTA V story-plus-extras run, and he skipped plenty. Anyone chasing 100 percent completion in the franchise’s newest game should keep those GTA V completionist figures in mind.
The extended look is finally on YouTube
Rockstar has also just dropped an extended look at the upcoming title. Netflix hosted the exclusive debut, and the studio has since posted the video on YouTube.
The runtime is just under 27 minutes. It offers a look at the fictional US state of Leonida, main characters Jason and Lucia, and the activities on offer across their world.
GTA VI launches November 19 at a price of $80.
Don’t download the “demo”
This next bit deserves your attention. A cyber attack campaign is currently making the rounds, urging fans to grab a “demo” of the game. There is no demo. What’s actually being distributed is an infostealer capable of pulling passwords out of your browsers.
November 19 is close. Hold out for the genuine release instead of gambling on files from sites that claim to be handing out early access Rockstar never distributed.
Eighty hours is a serious chunk of time. Better spent exploring Leonida than resetting every password you own.