Topline
Rockstar Games released the long-awaited trailer for “Grand Theft Auto VI” early on Monday, acknowledging a leak that amassed more than 1.5 million views on X and spoiled Rockstar’s planned Tuesday release for the trailer.
The trailer was scheduled to release on Tuesday, Dec. 4. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty … [+]
Key Facts
“Grand Theft Auto VI” will release sometime in 2025, according to the trailer, meaning it will have roughly been 12 years since Rockstar released its last GTA game.
The leaked trailer was on X, formerly known as Twitter, for nearly an hour before the account that posted it was suspended while the video was taken down.
The official trailer also confirms a number of leaks and theories that have materialized around the game in recent years, including the in-game location being in a city mirroring that of Miami, Florida, and two main characters who will seemingly be involved in a Bonnie and Clyde-style story.
Hype around the game came to a fever pitch last week when Rockstar announced the first look trailer was coming soon, racking up more than 2 million likes on X.
The game will release on Playstation 5 and Xbox Series S/X in 2025, according to a statement, though there is no indication when GTA VI will be released for PC.
What To Watch For
Another “Grand Theft Auto VI” trailer is likely to release in the coming months, potentially giving fans a deeper look at the game’s story or its gameplay. Two trailers following the announcement trailer for “Grand Theft Auto V” were released long after the first look but just a few months prior to the game’s 2013 release.
Big Number
190 million. That’s the number of “Grand Theft Auto V” copies sold in the game’s 10-year lifespan, a figure that makes it the third best-selling video game of all time.
Tangent
The announcement of the trailer was met with excitement from fans and copycat trailer announcements from other video games such as “Halo,” “Fall Guys” and “Call of Duty.”
Key Background
“Grand Theft Auto” is one of gaming’s largest, most commercially successful franchises. Starting as a small top-down action-adventure game in 1997, GTA has become a popular series through its multiplayer offerings, in-game free-roam possibilities and high-octane single-player stories. The wait for the newest installment came with a range of leaks and theories over the last few years, one leak of which confirmed two of the game’s main characters as well as its setting, forcing Rockstar to publicly acknowledge a “network intrusion” that led to the leak. Despite the leaks around the game, fans have clamored for an official release date for years, letting their angst be known through memes that usually depict an absurd amount of time passing before the next GTA game releases. A 2025 release date became more likely when Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive projected record-breaking net bookings alongside the launch of “several groundbreaking titles” for 2025, causing fans and analysts to hypothesize next year would mark the release of “Grand Theft Auto VI.”
Further Reading
‘Grand Theft Auto’ Hype Sends Take-Two Stock To 2023 High (Forbes)
GTA 6: Everything We Know – News, Leaks, and Pre-Trailer Intel (IGN)
