The teasing is over. Rockstar Games put out an extended look at Grand Theft Auto VI on Thursday, a video sitting just shy of 27 minutes on the publisher’s YouTube channel, and it marks the first genuine window into how the game’s narrative, gameplay and mechanics come together.
For a franchise that has spent more than a decade letting a single trailer carry the conversation, that is an enormous amount of runtime.
The date, the platforms, and the part Rockstar has actually confirmed
According to Rockstar, Grand Theft Auto VI lands Thursday, Nov. 19 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Pre-orders are already live.
Nothing points to a Switch 2 version being in the works, and the company has not announced a PC release either. Any assertion to the contrary should be treated as exactly that: a claim, not an announcement.
Jason, Lucia and the sunniest place in America
Every Grand Theft Auto game roots itself in a heavily hyperbolic take on an American city and follows main characters clawing their way through that city’s criminal world. This one unfolds in Leonida and Vice City, USA, which appears to be a dramatized version of Miami, Florida.
Rockstar’s synopsis for the game is short and does most of the work: “Jason and Lucia have always known the deck is stacked against them,” it reads. “But when an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a criminal conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida, forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive.”
$80, and the $100 version above it
The standard edition carries an $80 price tag, sitting roughly $10 above the general standard for new games.
Pre-orders for the Grand Theft Auto VI: Ultimate Edition opened earlier this summer and bundle in additional in-game items. That tier costs $100. The ultimate edition “amplifies the deepest and most immersive GTA experience yet with an exclusive collection of premium vehicles, weapons, apparel, and action threaded across all aspects of Jason and Lucia’s story,” Rockstar said.
Reserve either version and pre-loading becomes available on Nov. 12, “to ensure they are able to play at launch” on release day a week later, the company noted.
No disc. Really.
Breaking with earlier entries in the series, Grand Theft Auto VI won't be released on a disc, Rockstar says. Physical copies come with a code in the box and arrive Nov. 12 so buyers can pre-load.
So what sits on the shelf is a box with a code inside it. Collectors, adjust expectations accordingly.
The numbers behind the wait
Franchise owner Take-Two Interactive says Grand Theft Auto V, released in 2013, has sold 230 million copies. Series-wide, sales stand at 475 million copies, Take-Two noted.
The series began on the original PlayStation and PC in 1997, where its violence sparked controversy. Grand Theft Auto 3 followed on PlayStation 2 in 2001, moved the series into 3D and generated controversy all over again — that time over violence and sexual content alike.
Not one for the kids
No, the game will be completely inappropriate for children, thanks to its violence and its depiction of the criminal underworld. That is less a warning label than a description of the product.
Anyone hunting for an open-world alternative for a younger player can look to Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, which is set in an open-world Lego version of Gotham City, allows vehicles for getting around, and is out on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. A Nintendo Switch 2 version arrives Sept. 18.
Two months from now, a code in a box becomes gaming’s most-watched launch. Until then, there’s 27 minutes of footage and a pre-load date circled on the calendar.