GTA 6 | Release Date

GTA 6 (Grand Theft Auto VI) is the next chapter of the colossal GTA Series. The game has been confirmed to be in development by Rockstar Games, and has suffered a major leak on September 18, 2022.

Even though there is no official information about it yet, we can take a few calculated guesses based on what we know so far.

It has now been 9 long years since Grand Theft Auto V has been released, the longest we ever had to wait between Grand Theft Auto games.

So obviously there is an ever-increasing interest online about a possible GTA 6 release date, as well as any kind of GTA 6 news, leaks, and rumors. Here’s our complete analysis of the hints we were able to catch so far.

In a Rush? GTA 6 Summary Based on Leaked Info So Far

If you don’t have the time to read the whole thing (though we advise that you do because we’ve analyzed ALL the GTA 6 news and GTA 6 leaks below), here’s the summary of our findings:

• When is GTA 6 going to come out? Probably sometime around 2024 or 2025.
• Who is going to be the GTA 6 main character? There will be at least two GTA 6 characters, including a female protagonist. The male protagonist is named Jason, the female is a Latina named Lucia.
• Where is GTA 6 located? It has been confirmed that the game will take place in a modern-day Vice City. The map could be constantly updated, in the manner of battle royale games.
• What platforms is Grand Theft Auto 6 going to be on? There’s certainly going to be next-gen GTA VI (so GTA 6 PS5 and Xbox Series X/S). A PC version is sure to follow, but there will not be a last-gen release, so no GTA 6 PS4 and no GTA 6 Xbox One.
• Is there going to be GTA 6 Online? Definitely, although it may be called GTA Online 2, considering that the existing version isn’t called GTA V Online.

GTA 6 Release Date [2022 Updates]

Yes, we are impatient just like you, and we’re all wondering “when does GTA 6 come out” and when is the GTA 6 release date?

When it comes to the GTA 6 release date, Rockstar Games have not confirmed anything so far, and it seems the game is not expected to release soon.

Here’s the latest information we’ve compiled for all of you wondering:

When Will GTA 6 Release?

While rumors were suggesting that GTA 6 would be released as soon as 2022-2023, newer information suggests that it will not be coming out until 2024-2025, and for a few good reasons.

Tom Henderson, a tipster known for a good track record with Battlefield and Warzone leaks, had to say something about what year GTA 6 is coming out in a recent GTA 6 video.

So, before we dive into some more questionable claims about the game, we’re going to take a look at one of the most trusted sources out there at the moment.

While he does state several times that he isn’t known for GTA6 leaks specifically and that we should take everything he says with a grain of salt, his sources have always proved to be more than credible so far.

So when is GTA 6 coming out?

His predictions about the GTA 6 release date are set somewhere around 2024 or 2025, one of the main reasons being that there are a lot of shortages with the new generation of consoles. Rockstar obviously wants to release GTA VI when there is a big enough market for the PS5 & Xbox Series X/S platforms.

Other reasons include the employee’s well-being and Rockstar not wanting to set a release date unless they are 100% sure they can meet the deadline. All of this makes sense, as Rockstar has been bringing changes to its approach to the development process.

More specifically, they came out with concerns about the strain and stress that comes with crunches and overtime – which are both very common in today’s industry. Such stressful periods were present during the development of Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA 5.

Also, we had a glance at Take Two’s (Rockstar Games Parent company’s) annual 10-K forms to investigate further.

We learned that they plan to invest approximately $89 million into marketing between April of 2023 and March of 2024. This kind of a spike was also present when Red Dead Redemption 2 was being marketed and prepared for release.

So, while no specific games are mentioned anywhere, we can see how all of this lines up with the presumed 2024/2025 GTA 6 release date.

Bottom line – Rockstar Games hasn’t come out with any specific information, such as a GTA VI trailer release date or anything. In fact, it’s the very silence that makes it even more interesting to look into. There was only a small tease that Rockstar made about GTA VI, as part of the trailer for the recent GTA Online Cayo Perico update.

However, as we’ll see in this article, the development of Grand Theft Auto 6 is already well underway.

It’s not yet possible to pre-order GTA 6, but considering the hype, we can predict that the GTA 6 pre-order amount is certainly going to be huge.

GTA VI Platforms: Next-Gen Release, PC Version Coming Later

Here’s what we know so far on GTA VI and the platforms it will come out for:

GTA 6 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S

GTA 6 will be released for the next generation of consoles, Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S. There’s a good chance we will see a version of the game for Windows PC and Google Stadia too.

Will GTA VI be on PS4 & Xbox One?

Unfortunately for people that won’t get a next-gen console, Rockstar Games will not be launching GTA6 on PS4 and Xbox One. The next GTA game will be next-gen hardware exclusive.

Will there be a GTA 6 PC Release?

What about the GTA VI PC version, then?

Well, with GTA 4, GTA 5, and even Red Dead Redemption 2, there weren’t simultaneous launches for the PC along with the consoles. But they did come after a certain time.

While the delays surely frustrated a lot of PC users, it was worth the wait as the developers had more time to optimize the games for the PC platform and polish everything even further.

So, while we might expect a GTA 6 PS5 exclusive launch at first, along with Xbox Series X/S – also a PC version is sure to follow. Rockstar is smart enough to know not to keep this kind of a title limited to consoles only.

When is GTA VI going to be released on PC and next-gen consoles actually has a lot to do with the GTA 6 release date itself. The PS5 and Xbox Series X/S currently aren’t widespread, meaning there isn’t really a market or a large player base to appeal to… yet.

If you’re familiar with previous Rockstar games, you know that the GTA 6 map will be massively large. Beautiful, ultra-dense, and full of places to explore.

Early rumors suggested that the GTA 6 location could be set around Miami (in another rendition of Vice City), with a second location for additional missions being in South America.

Then, a coded message hinted at the locations possibly being all Los Santos, Vice City, and Liberty City.

But there’s much more to it, and there’s some new info that has arisen and that could be more reliable.

Where Will GTA VI Be Set?

With the GTA 6 early footage that has been leaked on September 18, 2022, it has been confirmed that GTA 6 will take place in a modern-day rendition of Vice City.

A Return to Vice City is the Likely GTA VI Setting

Obviously, no one would have a problem with visiting the iconic Miami-inspired Vice City again, with all the additions and novelties that new technology can use to bring it to life even further.

There’s even a mix of information regarding the state of GTA 6 Vice City. To put it more precisely:

On one hand, GTA 6 rumors are saying that we’ll be seeing a new and modernized version of it, while on the other hand there were talks of the game being set in the 70s and 80s.

Henderson predicts that Grand Theft Auto VI will feature a modern-day Vice City, with modern technological elements such as cryptocurrency.

The main reason for this is GTA Online: considering how GTA Online developed and grew using a modern setting, putting the game in a historic era would strip away a lot of what makes GTA Online what it is and would actually be detrimental to it.

Other Possible Locations: South America, Mix of Grand Theft Auto Cities

Now, here’s where things get slightly more heated. While a revamped version of Vice City on its own might be enough to make players go crazy, Rockstar apparently intends to bring even more to the table. A lot more.

Aside from the rumors about Vice City, we have also run into information that speaks of a second GTA 6 city that’s located in South America – a city based on Rio de Janeiro.

Rockstar also stated in an interview that they would like to eventually have a GTA with all the previous locations in one game (Liberty City, Los Santos, Vice City, etc.), so this is something that we could look forward to in the future.

GTA VI Evolving Map: A Fortnite-Style Possibility?

What we know for sure is that Rockstar Games has made changes within their development culture and to their approach to launching games.

In order to avoid terrible crunch crises, last-minute changes, employee overwork, burn-out and such, Rockstar has decided to change their approach from a huge first-day launch, with a gigantic map and everything, to a post-launch oriented method.

This means that we’ll be seeing a smaller launch upon initial release, followed by many expansions that will add more locations and events to the game as time goes on.

This is partly due to Rockstar paying attention to their employees’ wellbeing, but it’s also useful from a strategic perspective.

Firstly, this change of development culture received positive reactions from the employees. Some staff members who went through crunch periods on earlier games took this change very well and decided to continue working for Rockstar because of it.

Another reason why this might be a positive change is that it will allow Rockstar to plan out its content more carefully. Since there’s no rush to finish a whole game by a certain date, they can focus on individual expansions and locations well after the initial launch and give them proper polishing.

In his GTA 6 video posted on the 27th of June, Tom Henderson confirmed some things we’ve already encountered in some other places online.

More specifically, he said that Rockstar has indeed made changes to their development culture and that we will be seeing a smaller initial launch, followed by several seasonal updates.

These updates will affect how the default map looks every time a new DLC is released and will bring in new locations for the players to explore.

Henderson compares this map overhaul to Fortnite, for example, with a giant meteor crashing into the island and changing its layout during the update. In fact, they have performed map overhauls during seasonal changes.