GTA 6: The complete pre-launch overview

More than 13 years after Grand Theft Auto V launched, Rockstar is finally preparing to release GTA VI on November 19. Few games have been watched this closely, with every trailer, screenshot and gameplay clip picked apart for clues about what has changed since Los Santos.

Rockstar added more on October 15, with a 90-second Launch Trailer that digs further into Jason's troubled Army past, a prison call from Lucia and the pair being shown across several new robbery and action sequences. It also debuts "Flower in a Hurricane" from Justice, who composed the game's original score.

Combined with the 26-minute Extended Look, earlier trailers and official screenshots, there is now a much clearer picture of GTA VI. We went back through the major reveals to pull together what Rockstar has actually shown so far, along with the biggest questions it still has not answered.

Jason grew up around criminals before joining the Army and eventually working for drug runners in the Leonida Keys. Lucia learned to fight from her father and went to prison after standing up for her family. By the time they meet, both are already carrying plenty of baggage into the relationship.

The setup has an obvious modern Bonnie and Clyde feel to it. Jason and Lucia live together, commit crimes together and often rely on each other when a job goes wrong, but also have lives outside their criminal activities.

At home we saw that Jason can grab a drink from the fridge or watch television while Lucia gets ready. Out together, one can drive while the other checks their phone from the passenger seat. When they split up, the character you are not controlling keeps moving through their own routine, so switching back can find them somewhere else entirely.

They can also separate during a pursuit and escape on their own, then reconnect afterwards by phone. Rockstar has shown kissing, hand-holding and other intimate moments, but says the romantic side is optional. Spending time together can strengthen it, while ignoring calls or check-ins can put strain on the relationship. Exactly how far those choices affect the story is still unclear.

Jason and Lucia’s life together is rooted in Vice City, and the newer footage gives us a much better sense of the city around them. Ocean Beach still delivers the postcard version of Vice City, but Rockstar has also shown Little Cuba, the Tisha-Wocka flea market, apartment blocks, shopping districts and the working VC Port. 

Clubs and beachfront hotels sit only a few streets away from much more ordinary parts of the city, giving Vice City more range than the neon skyline suggested at first.

The rest of Leonida opens up naturally from there. Roads south run through the Keys, where marinas, beach bars and small islands sit around the waterways Jason’s smuggling contacts already use. Rockstar has shown divers moving through coral and marine life beneath the surface, alongside boats and personal watercraft above it.

Further inland, Grassrivers is dominated by mangroves, airboats and alligators. Port Gellhorn looks like a tourist town long past its best years, with cheap motels, empty strip malls and abandoned attractions. 

Ambrosia revolves around the Allied Crystal refinery and local bikers, while Mount Kalaga brings forests, dirt roads, hunting and fishing to the northern edge of the state. Rockstar currently presents all six as major parts of Leonida rather than minor areas around Vice City.

The spaces between them are getting attention too. Rockstar has confirmed more than 170 animal species, while the footage shows everything from flamingos and manatees to tropical storms moving across the state.

Leonida also explains how Jason gets pulled deeper into crime. His first contacts are already moving drugs through the Keys, and those connections soon put him and Lucia in front of people offering much bigger jobs.

The regional connections are also where Jason and Lucia's criminal work begins. Jason is already tied to Brian Heder, a smuggler in the Keys who gives him a place to stay in exchange for work. Brian's circle includes his wife Lori and Cal Hampton, who spends his spare time listening in on Coast Guard communications.

From there, the jobs get bigger. Raul Bautista recruits people for increasingly reckless bank robberies, while Boobie Ike sends Jason and Lucia to collect a package from an apartment building. When police raid the place, the job turns into a fight through the building, with several possible ways out.

Smaller scores fill the gaps between those set pieces. Jason can search a pawn shop for a safe while Lucia watches the entrance, either finding the combination or blowing it open and losing some of the cash in the process. Elsewhere, Lucia handles a robbery while Jason waits outside on a motorcycle.

Stolen cars can become jobs of their own. A fence can provide access to an impound yard, and damaging the vehicle on the way out lowers what it is worth. Rockstar has also shown Jason suggesting one of these jobs while the pair are already driving somewhere else.

At points in the story, money from hold-ups, stolen cars and similar work is needed before the campaign can move forward. Once those jobs go wrong, the focus shifts quickly from making money to getting away with it.

The apartment raid gives one of the clearest looks yet at how gunfights play. Jason picks up a shotgun inside the building, swaps back to a pistol and moves between cover as police push through the rooms. Another shootout, during a bodyguard job for Andres, shows slowed aiming and a separate meter beneath his health bar.

Rockstar has also shown much more control over where shots land. Individual body parts can be targeted, while a yellow X appears once an enemy is incapacitated. Not every confrontation has to end with someone dead either. Threatening a person, knocking them out or shooting to disable them can be enough to finish the encounter.

Close-range fights look rougher than before. One struggle uses button prompts as Jason wrestles with an opponent, while another ends with somebody being driven through an interior wall. Cars can become part of the fight too, with shots to the tyres sending pursuing vehicles spinning into traffic.

There are still obvious gaps. Rockstar has not explained exactly how Jason's aiming ability works, how often melee struggles occur or how much of the environment can actually be destroyed.

Those gunfights often end with the police already on Jason and Lucia, and the Extended Look spends almost as much time on the escape as the crime itself.

Police first need something to work with. A witness or alarm can report an incident, and officers may begin investigating before they know who committed it. Once they have seen Jason or Lucia, the interface can track whether police recognize their appearance, clothes, vehicle or the pair together.

That makes changing the getaway more important. Switching cars or clothes can reduce recognition, while splitting up gives police two separate suspects to follow. Simply adding a hat and glasses is not enough if officers already know the rest of the outfit.

Rockstar shows masks going on before robberies and spare clothing stored in a personal vehicle. One crew abandons and burns its getaway car before leaving in another. Elsewhere, Jason escapes through alleys and over fences when the roads become too dangerous.

Finding another car can bring problems of its own. Jason can force open a basic vehicle with a slim jim or smash the window, while more secure models require tools such as a key cloner. A phone scanner can reveal alarms, trackers and resale value before the theft. During one developer demonstration, an advanced tracker continued reporting a stolen car whenever it slowed down.

Cars are hardly limited to crime. Rockstar has shown street races, car meets and dirt-bike courses, alongside boats, personal watercraft and aircraft. Rideout Customs and One-Eyed Willie's appear as mod shops, while personal vehicles can be summoned and used to store purchased weapons in the trunk. Rockstar has yet to show the full range of customization.

Not everything Rockstar showed involves running from the police. Basketball, weight training, kayaking, scuba diving, parachuting and shooting-range practice all appear, alongside hunting and fishing. Some were only background details in the earlier trailers, but the Extended Look makes clear that at least part of that everyday life is playable.

Jason and Lucia can change physically as well. Eating affects their weight, while exercise builds muscle and strength. Clothing stores and salons vary across Leonida, with some hairstyles tied to particular locations. Basic grooming can be done at home, but a new cut means finding a barber or salon.

The people around them are paying attention too. Wearing a mask near a shop can make someone quietly move away, while listening too closely to a private conversation may get you confronted. Some civilians are armed and can escalate an encounter themselves.

Rockstar later gave part of that behavior a name. The Criminal Profile tracks unnecessary violence separately from fighting back or hurting someone during a mission. Rockstar says those patterns can influence reactions in the world and parts of the story, although it has not explained exactly how far the system goes.

Even outside missions, Jason and Lucia are moving through a city that notices what they wear, how they behave and what they do in public.

Rockstar's first proper look at GTA VI introduced Vice City through the phones of the people living there. Vertical videos, local news and livestreams captured everything from an alligator wandering into a convenience store to crowds filming street takeovers. At that point, social media looked mostly like part of the satire surrounding Leonida.

Later footage made it clear that Jason and Lucia use that same online world themselves. They can browse Snapmatic, follow accounts and message each other while apart or during a job, although Rockstar says they cannot post while living as fugitives.

The music side of Vice City gradually came into focus as well. Boobie Ike owns the Jack of Hearts strip club and a recording studio, while Dre'Quan Priest is building Only Raw 

Records around acts such as Real Dimez. Bae-Luxe and Roxy already turned rap and social media into an audience before signing with the label, tying the city's music business directly into the same online culture Rockstar introduced years earlier.

By the time of the Launch Trailer, Rockstar was also showing more of the soundtrack itself. Justice composed the original score, including "Flower in a Hurricane," while stations such as Flash FM, Dirty South Classics and Cocoteo cover pop, regional hip-hop and modern Latin music alongside talk radio and podcasts.

All of this finally becomes playable on November 19, when Grand Theft Auto VI launches for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The Standard Edition is priced at $79.99 in the US, with a $99.99 Ultimate Edition adding extra vehicles, weapons, clothing and other campaign content. Preloading begins a week earlier on November 12, which is also when boxed copies go on sale.

But there are still a few things we do not know. A PC version has no release date, and the next GTA Online has barely been discussed. The Extended Look was captured on PS5, but Rockstar has not yet confirmed performance targets for either console.

Rockstar first confirmed the next GTA was in development in 2022. Four years later, we finally have a fairly detailed picture of what GTA VI actually is. What Rockstar is still holding back is mostly the part that begins once the campaign is in our hands.