How The GTA 6 Reveal Trailer Compares to Past Rockstar Reveals

The most anticipated game of the last decade, Grand Theft Auto 6 is finally a real, tangible thing that fans can see with their own eyes. After years of scrutinizing every single GTA Online item, weapon, and vehicle for clues, furiously scouring every Rockstar Tweet in the hopes of a hidden message, and dissecting every word Take-Two’s higher-ups have said, Rockstar has finally given fans what they’ve always wanted. And it did not disappoint.

While an unfortunate leak forced the long-awaited trailer to drop a day early, it’s done little to impact the fervor surrounding Grand Theft Auto 6‘s official first reveal. Coming in at just a minute and a half long, the GTA 6 trailer gives fans an amazing first look at the sequel’s setting and characters, and it pretty closely follows in the footsteps of all the best past Rockstar Games trailers.

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The GTA 6 trailer is finally here and it’s beautiful though the circumstances behind its release might just be a disappointing sign of things to come.

Comparing Grand Theft Auto 6’s Reveal Trailer to Past Rockstar Titles

How GTA 6’s Reveal Trailer Compares to GTA 5’s

Coming in at around a minute and a half as well, Grand Theft Auto 5‘s trailer shares some major similarities with GTA 6‘s recent reveal. The biggest similarity is the two trailers’ overall structure. GTA 5‘s trailer begins with a voiceover from main character Michael, and then a sudden cut to a picturesque Los Santos beach at sunset. As Michael continues his voiceover, the trailer continues to give fans an overview of GTA 5‘s setting, showing its bustling city streets, its quiet mountain trails, its copious number of highways, and its overbearing skyscrapers, all of which set the game’s tone immediately.

Grand Theft Auto 6 essentially follows the same basic structure, opening on a gorgeous establishing shot that looks as though it’s been ripped right off the front cover of a synth wave album. Fans are then introduced to main character Lucia, before being shown a montage of scenic locations, all of which, again, set the game’s tone from the get-go. But there’s one big addition to GTA 6‘s trailer structure, and that’s its focus on social media.

After the montage of settings, GTA 6‘s trailer then cuts to a montage of TikTok-like clips, most of which are parodying absurd real-world events of the last few years. It’s currently unclear just how much of a role social media will play in Grand Theft Auto 6, but its lengthy representation in this first reveal trailer may hint at it being fairly important in the finished product.

Of course, the other massively noticeable difference between GTA 5 and GTA 6‘s trailers is the visuals. GTA 5‘s first trailer came out 12 years ago, and while it doesn’t look bad by any means, it’s certainly starting to show its age, with foliage and character models looking a little fuzzy around the edges, and the draw distance being a bit worse than fans might remember. Grand Theft Auto 6, on the other hand, is still blowing fans away with just how beautiful and cutting-edge the game looks, from lighting to character models to motion capture. It’s clear that Rockstar has come a long way in the last decade.

How GTA 6’s Reveal Trailer Compares to Red Dead Redemption 2’s

Released seven years ago, there’s not nearly as much of a stark difference between Red Dead Redemption 2‘s first trailer and Grand Theft Auto 6‘s. Coming in at a shorter one-minute runtime, Red Dead Redemption 2‘s trailer follows a near-identical structure to GTA 5 and GTA 6‘s trailers, with fans being shown a montage of scenic shots, before hearing some dialogue from main character Arthur Morgan, and then finally being shown the whole gang riding together before it cuts to the title screen. Despite being seven years old at this point, Red Dead Redemption 2‘s first trailer still looks drop-dead gorgeous, but even then, it still doesn’t hold a candle to GTA 6‘s graphics.