Early in December, Rockstar Games ended years of restless anticipation when it finally officially unveiled Grand Theft Auto 6, and though the game is still a ways off from launch, excitement surrounding it is already at a fever pitch.
05.12.2023 - 13:21 / gamedeveloper.com / Sam Houser
Rockstar dropped the trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI ahead of schedule to counter a leak and confirmed the title will launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S in 2025.
The trailer was slated to debut at 9 am ET on December 5 and was billed as one of the biggest video game announcements of the year (and arguably, the decade).
Instead, Rockstar published the trailer at around midnight on December 4 and confirmed it had leaked online. "Our trailer has leaked so please watch the real thing on YouTube," said the studio on X, formerly Twitter, around 10 hours ago.
The trailer itself showcases the state of Leonida, home to the white beaches and neon streets of Vice City. It also introduces what many are assuming is new series protagonist Lucia, who's seemingly had more than a few altercations with the law.
Commenting on the trailer, Rockstar Games founder Sam Houser said GTA VI represents a "new vision" for the franchise. "Grand Theft Auto VI continues our efforts to push the limits of what's possible in highly immersive, story-driven open-world experiences," he added in a press release.
Veering into pure speculation territory for a second, a couple of things stood out about the trailer. The first is the repeated inclusion of a TikTok-meets-Instagram style video platform that has us wondering if Rockstar is going to bake a social media experience into the title itself.
The second is simply how dense the open world itself appears. The brief glimpses on show indicate Rockstar will lean on next-generation hardware to pack more NPCs into its myriad of environments than ever before.
Grand Theft Auto has become one of the most successful franchises in video game history, with GTA V selling over 190 million units in around a decade.
That title, the last main entry in the series, launched in September 2013 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 but has leaped across hardware generations to stay relevant. It remains a huge earner for Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive, thanks in no small part to the continued success of multiplayer mode GTA Online.
Take-Two has seemingly been teasing the launch of GTA VI for some time, and in May this year said it expects to deliver over $8 billion in net bookings across FY2025 (March 2024/March 2025). That has some believing GTA VI will launch during that 12-month window, which Take-Two has described as a "a highly anticipated year for our company."
Early in December, Rockstar Games ended years of restless anticipation when it finally officially unveiled Grand Theft Auto 6, and though the game is still a ways off from launch, excitement surrounding it is already at a fever pitch.
Even though its release is nearly two years away. Grand Theft Auto 6 or GTA 6 has already started shattering records. The GTA 6 trailer went live on December 4 and it amassed a staggering 93 million views in the first 24 hours, breaking the record for most views in the initial 24-hour period for a non-music video, overtaking the previous record of YouTuber Mr. Beast. While the trailer showcased the stunning world of GTA 6 and confirmed that the game will indeed be set in Vice City, not much information about the storyline was given away. However, the 1-minute 31-second clip was enough for eagle-eyed Rockstar Games fans to spot major details about the likely prologue mission of GTA 6. Know all about it.
Gaming audiences have been burned plenty of times by games that look stunning in their pre-launch trailers, but end up delivering noticeably (and, at times, severely) downgraded visuals when they actually release, which means there’s always an air of skepticism around graphically impressive trailers for upcoming games. Grand Theft Auto 6 received one such stunning trailer upon its announcement last week, and though there are some who have wondered whether the game will actually look this good, a former Rockstar developer is certain that it will.
Here’s a bit of an understatement- there’s a fair bit of excitement surrounding Grand Theft Auto 6. The long-awaited open world behemoth was officially unveiled by Rockstar earlier this week (a day ahead of time, owing to unfortunate leaks), and within the first day, the reveal trailer had surpassed 96 million views on Rockstar’s official YouTube channel. And, unsurprisingly, that momentum has continued.
There was little doubt that the GTA VI trailer would do well in terms of viewership. Still, the debut video of Rockstar's massively anticipated new game surpassed even the rosiest expectations.
The recently-released trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 was officially released following a leak, prompting developer Rockstar Games to release the trailer earlier than it had planned. Soon after the dust had settled with the trailer’s release, however, several developers from the studio have voiced their disappointment about the trailer being leaked.
In the first day since its release, the reveal trailer for the hotly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 has proven to be quite popular. At the time of publishing the trailer has now been seen more than 96 million times. The trailer, released yesterday, is the first bit of Grand Theft Auto 6 that has been shown off to the world.
The Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer is finally out! After nearly a decade of waiting, Rockstar Games has finally released the GTA 6 trailer albeit in a manner it wouldn't have liked. On November 8, the Take-Two Interactive-owned publisher announced that the GTA 6 trailer would be released in early December. And just a few days ago, Rockstar Games set the GTA 6 trailer release date as December 5, 6:00 AM PT. To the company's dismay, the trailer was leaked online before Rockstar could release it. Now, we have a proper first glimpse into the world of GTA 6 (officially called GTA VI), and it confirms what leaks have suggested before.
Fans around the world exploded with excitement Monday when Rockstar Games released the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI , or GTA 6 -- the most hotly anticipated game of the decade. The first look at the next instalment in the blockbuster series follows years of feverish speculation about the setting, characters and atmosphere of GTA VI.
In just 22 hours, the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI has racked up 85 million views, breaking a MrBeast video’s record for most YouTube views in 24 hours. That ranking excludes music videos, but the hype around this long-awaited game could smash past those records too — right now, the most viewed YouTube video in 24 hours is the music video for K-Pop sensation BTS’ song “Butter,” which was viewed 108 million times in that timespan.
The first trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI is here, finally taking the covers off of Rockstar Games' ambitious open world title. After years of leaks, rumours and speculation, we now finally have concrete official details about GTA 6, its world, characters, and tone. The trailer itself was published hastily ahead of schedule after it was leaked on X on Tuesday. Instead of waiting and putting out the reveal Wednesday at 9am ET (7:30pm IST) — as Rockstar initially planned, the studio released the trailer early Wednesday morning. “Our trailer has leaked so please watch the real thing on YouTube,” the publisher said in its post on X.
GTA 6 marks a "new vision" for developer Rockstar Games and the series at large.