Rockstar Releases Grand Theft Auto 6 Trailer a Day Early, Confirms Release Window

Highlights

• Rockstar debuted the Grand Theft Auto 6 reveal trailer a day early. The video confirms that GTA 6 is targeting a 2025 release.
• The move was likely made in response to the full trailer already leaking on X, formerly Twitter.
• The trailer confirms that GTA 6 will be the first entry in the franchise with a female protagonist, called Lucia.

Rockstar released the Grand Theft Auto 6 reveal trailer a day early. The first look at the highly-anticipated game confirms that GTA 6 will be the first entry in the franchise with a female protagonist, much like previous leaks and rumors have suggested, on top of disclosing that the game is targeting a 2025 release.

The much-anticipated GTA 6 reveal trailer was planned to go live on December 5, at 9am ET. However, approximately 16 hours ahead of its scheduled premiere, a low-resolution version of the full trailer was leaked on X, formerly Twitter, having been shared by now-suspended throwaway account GTA6TrailerLeak.

In an apparent response to that move, Rockstar released the full trailer on YouTube a day early. The long-awaited first look at Grand Theft Auto 6 is edited to the sounds of Love is a Long Road, a 1989 song from Tom Petty’s first solo album Full Moon Fever. The video opens with an establishing shot of a swamp bridge at sunset, which then cuts into two consecutive glimpses of what appears to be the Vice City Penitentiary. “Lucia, do you know why you are here,” asks the correctional officer in the fourth shot of the leaked trailer. “Bad luck, I guess,” responds the Latina in an orange prison jumpsuit.

What follows is a “Rockstar Games Presents” title card overlaid on a shot of what appears to be Vice City Beach. The name of the game’s setting is confirmed halfway into the trailer with a partial shot of a giant Vice City sign. The rest of the trailer is mostly focused on introducing the various aspects of the city and its denizens, offering glimpses of marshes, beaches, a nightclub, and a boat cruising over some viridian green water, as well as a non-trivial amount of social media posts, among other things. The Viceport Boatyard is also featured in the video, as is the GTA 6 version of Ocean Drive, the street bordering Vice City Beach.

GTA 6 Release Window

The trailer indicates that GTA 6 will feature two playable characters, who will apparently be a couple. Unlike with Lucia, nobody voices the name of the male protagonist during the 91-second video, although past GTA 6 leaks called him Jason. Irrespective of his identity, it would appear that GTA 6 will be the first game in the franchise with a female protagonist.

The trailer ends by revealing the official logo of GTA 6, an outrun-style Roman numeral for six, in addition to disclosing that the game is targeting a 2025 release. Take-Two’s recent financial reports suggested the GTA 5 sequel will be out by the end of the company’s fiscal year 2025, which, combined with this release window confirmation, points to a Q1 2025 launch. That said, a GTA Online teaser that revealed the GTA 6 trailer’s planned premiere date months in advance also included a hint that the game might actually be out on April 1, 2025. However, that theory is still somewhat dubious, not least because its stated date coincides with April Fools’ Day.