GTA 6 trailer release live coverage

So let's start with our predictions shall we? Resident GTA expert Joe Donnelly has written what I think will be some pretty spot on theories about the trailer itself and what we should see. 

You can read the full article here: GTA 6 trailer predictions: Everything we hope to see on December 5

Now obviously Rockstar has a history of making really good debut trailers. I mean, how engrained in your memory is hearing this opening to the very first GTA 5 trailer?

Again, Joe hit the nail on the head again when he called out the developer saying "No pressure with GTA 6 Rockstar, but GTA 4 and GTA 5 had two of the best reveal trailers of all time".

Here's the first GTA 4 trailer for reference - 

Interestingly, there's quite a different approach between the GTA 4 and GTA 5 first trailers. They're both clearly offering up the setting - GTA 4 with its take on New York, and GTA 5 with its version of Los Angeles - but with the GTA 5 trailer we get a much better look at the life within that city. There's a brief look at Michael, but not really establishing him as a main character - and there's not even a glimpse at Trevor or Franklin at this stage. 

Joe Donelly

"While it's not totally out of the question that Rockstar puffs out its proverbial chest and drops a solitary GTA 6 logo and a release date, I suspect the developer will go big here. In the face of last year's unprecedented leaks (and whatever those shorts that appeared over the weekend are; would-be players are torn on their veracity), restoring the company's signature swagger seems important at this juncture, and a blockbuster reveal trailer that blows us away feels like the easiest way of doing so. I don't think we'll see too much, granted – history would suggest something in the vicinity of a 90-second runtime seems fair – but what we will get, I reckon, is another of Rockstar's 'concept' trailers, where everything on display is in-game and in-engine footage. As always, a banging backing track will likewise set the tone and underpin whatever features on-screen." - Joe Donnelly

The shorts that Joe refers to there are the TikTok 'leaks' that occurred over the weekend. They were two off-screen videos that claimed to show the GTA 6 map, but after these GTA 6 leak rumors gathered momentum, fans now think they've been pranked thanks to a post on Reddit. 

Fans are hungry folks (and us too).

"Red Dead Redemption 2's debut trailer teased John Marston's return and a prequel setting, but stopped just short of actually confirming it. GTA 6 could pull a similar trick with the expected setting of Vice City." - Hirun Cryer, News Writer

Now, while I think Hirun has a point there, I've not stopped looking at this one single image we've had from Rockstar about the GTA 6 trailer. 

Let's break it down a little bit in a slightly tinfoil hat kind of way.

Starting with the palm trees. Now, if that doesn't scream Vice City - aka the rumored setting for GTA 6 - I don't know what does. 

Of course, there are palm trees synonymous with other areas of America, like Los Santos or Los Angeles of GTA 5 fame, but there's something about the colour palette that suggests it will be set in Vice City, or the fictionalized version of Miami. 

If you look at the palm trees and color palette from GTA Vice City back in the day, the comparisons are pretty easy to draw. Although you could argue that this slightly more muted pastel take is a slightly more modern, mature take on the more lurid neon of the 80s-set Vice City. 

That shift in palette could also point to fact it's set in the present day too of course.

Then there's the three birds on the trailer 'poster'. Now, bear with me here because this is prime tin foil hat territory, but could those birds reflect the protagonists?

The rumor is that there are two playable characters - a man and a woman allegedly named Jason and Lucile - rather than the three protagonists of GTA 5, but with a similar person-switching mechanic. 

The fact that the third bird is smaller could suggest these two heroes actually share a child together? (Told you I'd gone full tin hat).  I kinda love the idea of making the two characters parents to make them more sympathetic criminals, as it's hard to feel much compassion for the kind of things we're capable of doing in GTA otherwise.

Of course, they could also just be birds and I'm getting ahead of myself. 

However, I do think having more parent figures in games - particularly mothers - wouldn't be a bad thing.

Ho boy the link is here ready for tomorrow. According to metadata it's 91 seconds long

As GTA 6 community notes on Twitter, that's the longest first trailer Rockstar has done for quite some time.

Now's probably a great time to showcase Joe's interview with one of the creators who made the GTA 4 first trailer happen. 

Exploring the legacy of my absolute favorite GTA trailer with one of its creators 15 years later: "Of course, having a dope song is always good"

More trailer thoughts from our GTA experts on team, and next up we've got Iain Wilson, Guides Editor - 

"Rockstar is the undisputed master of the big reveal, which it's honed to a fine art over the years. If we think back to 2011 (gulp) and the first GTA 5 reveal trailer then we should get a good idea of what to expect – a voice over from one of the main protagonists setting the overall vibe, panning shots of the setting without too many specifics (it’s not likely we’ll see a “Welcome to Vice City” sign just yet), and enough small hints of information to keep fans poring over every frame for weeks to come. Little details picked out from that first GTA 5 reveal included dogs, convertibles with fully-functioning retractable roofs, yoga, heists, and more, and I can’t wait to see what nuggets people are able to extract when the much-anticipated GTA 6 reveal trailer drops."

Just 42k people and counting sitting waiting for the GTA 6 trailer that's still some 22 hours away.... 

It shouldn't really come as a surprise though - the GTA community is a passionate (and patient) one. 

Joe spoke to many members of the GTA community after the confirmation that a trailer was indeed coming, and the excitement was palpable throughout. 

"It's certainly the culmination of anticipation for VI," says prominent GTA community member Tez. "The community was expecting it last year, but that didn't happen. Then again earlier this year with another February announcement, but that didn't happen either. Then we expected it in September as Rockstar celebrated the decade-long anniversary of GTA 5, but nothing."

So many had actually labelled October 'Rocktober' because Rockstar has always made announcements in that month. But obviously it's been a little wait since. 

"Waiting for release day is going to be tough, but I look forward to the discussion and speculation in the months ahead. However long we may have to wait, Rockstar has become known for the excellent quality of their releases, and I trust that they will deliver on our expectations once again when the time finally comes," says GTANet colleague and GTA Chain Game chief GTAKid.

Regardless of whether it's set in Vice City, I think we're all in agreement that we hope the world of GTA 6 is as dense as that in GTA 5.

The leaks and rumors don't matter, the GTA 6 map will be judged on more than scale alone said Joe Donnelly earlier today. 

There's a lot of chat on Reddit about the potential Guinness World Records that GTA 6 could break - everything from fastest and best-selling game - but it's already looking like it's on track to be one of the biggest YouTube trailers of all time. It's already got 472k likes and no dislikes at the time of publishing this - and some 40k plus from when I took the screenshot below some 30 minutes ago.

Btw if you want a recap of everything that's happened in the Grand Theft Auto series so far, Heather has put together a thorough GTA timeline for your reading pleasure.

520k likes on the trailer now!

And still 48k people "watching" and "waiting". Quite creepy really.

You know what would be funny, actually? If, somehow, after all of the speculation and expectation about being Vice City, GTA 6 was actually set literally anywhere else.

The rumor mill was so hot about Vice City at one point that just a photo of Miami from someone that worked at Rockstar got people going. Admittedly, he did tag Rockstar Games in it, but even so.

We're up to 627,000 likes on the trailer with over 51,000 folks waiting and watching! I find myself wondering who these people even are. Who are you, people? Like, I'm here because it's my job, but we're still 18 hours away from the premiere.

But also, to my previous point, even if GTA 6 somehow isn't set in Vice City, there's been enough excitement about returning to that setting from fans that you have to imagine the developer is well aware that folks want another adventure there.

I can hear the calls now for GTA 7's setting the moment GTA 6's is revealed.

Can I get real for a moment, though? A modern-day version of Vice City represented in GTA 6 would be something I'm mighty keen to see. Not too long now to find out just how accurate all of those rumors, reports, and the like have been.

In Numbers Continue to Go Up news, the GTA 6 trailer -- which, as a reminder, is just a placeholder right now -- has crested 753,000 likes...

If GTA 6 is, actually, a modern-day version of Vice City, there are plenty of Vice City tourist traps that our resident GTA expert Joe Donnelly would like to see make a return.

Well first the GTA 6 leaked... and then Rockstar decided to go early.

It's called GTA 6, it's set in Vice City, seemingly confirms the two protagonists, and it's coming in 2025. 

From what we can see, here's our initial spots

• Two playable heroes - seemingly a couple (one woman Lucia and a currently unnamed man)
• Set in Vice City and the surrounding areas
• Social Media is going to play a huge part in the game
• One area may be called Leonida (or the state if the leaks are correct)
• A mud club as an activity?
• Another area called Hamlet referenced

Interesting that the trailer names Lucia straight away but doesn't name the male protagonist. Of course, the leaks would suggest he's called Jason, and is also playable, but obviously this trailer doesn't confirm that.

Josh West here – I'm taking over the live blog while we try to wrap our heads around the carnage Rockstar has released on us. What are your thoughts on the trailer? Head over to Twitter and let us know about it (if only to give me a chance to watch the thing a couple more times). 

If you're just joining us, here's the first GTA 6 trailer in all of its glory. 

There's a lot of ground to cover, but because I'm a lifelong fan of rock 'n' roll I feel it pertinent to send you towards some groovy tunes. The track behind the reveal trailer is called "Love is a Long Road" and it's from the legendary Tom Petty. The song is from his first solo outing in Full Moon Fever – released in 1989. 

And if you want some more Tom Petty to enjoy on this chaotic evening, then may I please suggest that you direct your attention over to this classic released by recorded by Stevie Nicks (of Fleetwood Mac fame) and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers back in '81. If this isn't on the soundtrack I will cry, Rockstar. 

Alright, with Tom Petty out of the way – let's talk about the trailer in a little more depth. The thing with Rockstar is that the devil is always in the detail. Let's take the first 10 seconds of the trailer: 

A pan over a highway packed with vehicles in traffic as boat speeds off towards a distant horizon, the view flooded with color. It doesn't appear as if all that much is going on, but it signals that GTA 6 is still interested in one thing above all else – simulation of a realistic world. It's how the AI reacts once we are let loose where the game will connect. 

I'm going to continue on with more analysis of the trailer, but it's worth pointing out that Rockstar devs are not happy with the fact that this reveal had to be pushed earlier than expected because of another leak – and I don't blame them. It's a shame that leaking culture has become so prevalent that corners of the internet can't even hold off for a few hours for Rockstar to reveal this thing that thousands of people have spent the better part of a decade working towards the way it wanted to. 

Anyway, back to the trailer. I have to say that I'm pretty impressed by the facial animations in the first interaction between Lucia and a corrections officer. It's easy to be dismissive and say that it looks like GTA 5 (I see you, Twitter) – but seriously, go back and look at the GTA 5 reveal trailer and you'll see that they are worlds apart. Good on Rockstar with leading the reveal in this way – its first female protagonist, at least since the OG Grand Theft Auto days (if you're counting those). 

You hit that 15 second mark of the trailer and god damn am I in love with the GTA location reveal of Vice City there. The deep-blue ocean, the glowing beach, and the leafy green bushes – the last line of defence against a city descending into debauchery. You love to see it. It's a classic Rockstar camera pan, one which reveals both the scope of the space and the detail which is being driven into the incidentals. 

At 22 seconds you get what is possibly one of the most important shots of the GTA 6 trailer. A beach packed with pedestrians, all of whom are walking with incredibly realistic animation. To the right you've got Jet Skis – you'll almost certainly be able to ride those. In the skies? Helicopters and planes. It's all happening. Let the carnage begin. 

But in all seriousness, I have to say that I'm pretty impressed by the world density Rockstar is putting forward. The big trick will be on how the NPCs react to action, but the studio has never let us down here before. 

It's also been pointed out to me by multiple staffers at GR+ here that this early beach scene also includes a first look at a small dog running across the beach which, I'm told, is more interesting than my knowledge about Tom Petty's discography...

This GTA 6 trailer already has 3.6 million likes on YouTube, which is absurd. This thing is about to set records and with good reason! Let's slide over to 31 seconds – a familiar location from Vice City to me, Starfish Island anyway? It looks lush!

Sorry, I'm back. I got so distracted immersed in this damn trailer. Every pause is just a look out across this absolutely absurd cityscapes. I'll tell you what though, I'm not sure I quite understand the significance of the social media posts which are inserted into this trailer – they are either indicative of the culture in the game world, or perhaps pushing for something further from a story perspective. Not sure just yet. 

Right, we are signing off for the night here at GamesRadar+ but here is a recap of everything we've got for you on GTA 6 so far, and we'll be back with you later for more analysis and insight.

• The GTA 6 trailer is here a day early, confirming a 2025 release
• An unfortunate road to release for the GTA 6 trailer - but ultimately one of the most exciting ever
• Presumably while calling its lawyers, Rockstar responded to the GTA 6 trailer leak: "Our trailer has leaked so please watch the real thing"
• Rockstar developers react to the GTA 6 trailer leak: "Well, that f***ing sucks"
• Rockstar confirms GTA 6 for PS5 and Xbox Series X, but not PC
• Newly revealed GTA 6 characters showcase the series' first-ever female protagonist and her Bonnie and Clyde-style relationship
• The GTA 6 location is a Vice City made prettier than ever - and a rural Florida that's every bit as chaotic as the real thing
• Love is a Long Road: What does Tom Petty's song in the GTA 6 trailer tell us about Rockstar's new game?
• GTA 6 trailer breakdown - 12 things you might have missed
• GTA 6: Everything we know so far

It looks like Rockstar Games co-founder Sam Houser is feeling pretty good about GTA 6 following the impromptu reveal. In a statement released following the trailer, he says the upcoming game "continues our efforts to push the limits of what's possible in highly immersive, story-driven open-world experiences."

The wider industry is talking about the prominence of leaks in games once more, and we imagine you can guess why. 

“The thing I hate most about leaks is that it takes the voice away from the developer,” Larian Studios director of publishing Michael Douse says, to name one example. “What we should all be looking for is dialogue between devs and communities. But when something leaks, it just becomes fucking noise. It isn’t what you want.”