Rockstar Games has scheduled Grand Theft Auto VI for 19 November 2026 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The game will expand Vice City into a larger Leonida setting with new weather systems and a single-player campaign, but Rockstar has not given GTA VI Online a release date or monetization plan.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is set to launch on 19 November 2026. That will come roughly 13 years after Grand Theft Auto 5. Rockstar Games is building its biggest modern open-world game around Vice City and the wider state of Leonida. It will include two playable protagonists, a redesigned crime sandbox and a single-player campaign at launch. Rockstar has not given GTA VI Online a release date or shared monetization details.
Release date and scale
The date follows a long production cycle. Preliminary work reportedly began in 2014. Full production started in late 2018.
The first trailer arrived on 4 December 2023 and broke YouTube viewing records. Rockstar's original 2025 target was delayed twice before the company settled on November 2026. The gap between GTA V and GTA VI will therefore be roughly 13 years.
GTA 6 will launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Rockstar's official messaging still separates the console release from PC. No official PC version or release date has been announced. A later PC release may be widely expected, but it is not a confirmed launch platform or schedule.
The Standard Edition is listed at $79.99. The Ultimate Edition costs $99.99. Pre-orders include the Vintage Vice City Pack. The Ultimate Edition also adds exclusive vehicles, weapons, clothing and other content. The source does not give a regional price breakdown, so these figures should not be treated as the local cost everywhere.
The financial scale is unusually large. Rockstar North spent nearly $3 billion on staff costs between 2019 and 2025. First-week pre-orders are reported at around $260 million globally.
Forecasts put possible launch-week sales as high as 51 million units. They place revenue at roughly $5.2 billion. Those figures are predictions, not results. Current market coverage treats them as estimates rather than official outcomes.
Leonida and its criminal pair
GTA 6 returns to Vice City, Rockstar's fictional version of Miami. The city is only one part of the setting. Leonida expands the map into a broader modern-day state. The world is described as roughly twice the size of GTA V's map, with more detailed environments.
Late-September preview coverage, including reporting from Game Informer, also focused on the larger open world and improved weather systems.
Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos are at the centre of the campaign. They are romantically involved. Players can influence their relationship instead of simply following a fixed partnership.
That system gives the two-character structure a direct effect on the story's personal stakes. The source does not say how many outcomes the relationship can produce.
The pair leads a wider cast that includes Real Dimez, Brian Heder, Cal Hampton, Raul Bautista, Boobie Ike and Dre'Quan Priest. The list points to a large supporting ensemble. Available information does not establish how much control players will have over these characters or how their stories will connect.
Rockstar has described several ways Leonida should feel active between missions. Basketball, scuba diving and jet skiing are part of the world. A lifestyle simulation will affect character statistics and appearance. The six-star Wanted system returns. Car theft has been expanded, and a three-tier robbery structure supports solo or duo heists.
The systems behind the world
Character switching works on two levels. That suggests moving between Jason and Lucia will affect more than combat encounters.
Combat has been overhauled with manual aiming and a bullet-time mode inspired by Dead Eye. These systems could make gunfights more deliberate. The supplied information does not include independent testing or a complete description of the control scheme.
The evolved RAGE engine provides the technical foundation. The reported feature set includes advanced animal simulations, ray-traced global illumination and dynamic weather with tropical storms.
Game Informer's preview material specifically highlighted improvements to the weather system. These remain feature claims rather than measured retail performance because the supplied material contains no independent testing.
On PlayStation 5, the stated target is 30 frames per second at 1440p. That is a target, not proof of a locked frame rate. It also says nothing about frame pacing or demanding scenes.
Xbox Series S is expected to require compromises because of its hardware limits. The source gives no confirmed resolution or frame-rate target for that console.
The latest information follows an Extended Look that premiered on Netflix on Thursday 27 August at 3 PM Eastern Time. It also follows an in-depth Game Informer cover story.
Earlier reporting on Jason and Lucia's relationship and the larger Leonida map adds context through this earlier GTA 6 report. Neither report turns projected performance into independently verified results. Rockstar Games remains the main reference for the confirmed 19 November 2026 console date and the announced platform list.
The online bet
Many observers expect GTA 6 Online to become a major part of Rockstar's strategy. The planned experience has been described as persistent and MMO-like. User-generated content could potentially produce millionaires.
That language describes an ambition, not a delivered economy. Rockstar's current promotional material presents GTA VI as a single-player experience. The company has not announced a launch date, launch content or monetization details for GTA VI Online.
The gap between the confirmed campaign and the larger promise is clear. Rockstar has supplied a release date, platforms, prices, characters and a long list of mechanics. It has not confirmed a PC launch or provided measured performance data.
The online mode is often presented as a major future pillar. There is still no official account of its servers, progression, monetisation or creator systems.
GTA 6 arrives with high expectations after an unusually long development period. Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold 225 million units according to verified figures. That makes it the second-best-selling game of all time, and the sequel carries that commercial weight.
Rockstar's strongest case is not the size of its forecasts. It is the range of systems already described: a larger Leonida, two connected leads, more flexible robberies, deeper simulation and the possibility of a future online world built to last.
That is enough to make GTA 6 the industry's most important upcoming release. It does not settle the remaining questions. The 19 November 2026 date is the main fact for players. The PC version, online economy and real-world performance are still unresolved.
The sensible reading is straightforward. Rockstar is promising a vast and technically ambitious sequel. The game will need to turn those targets into stable play before the scale of its investment means much to players.
Frame pacing will matter as much as the headline 30fps target. Consistent delivery makes movement and aiming feel smooth. Uneven frame times can make a capped game feel less responsive even when its average frame rate appears correct.
