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Over a decade since Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto V, the iconic developer is readying its much-anticipated follow-up. With the second trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI unveiled and the release date now set for 26 May, 2026, the new instalment invites gamers back to ‘Vice City’, but there is a lot left unknown.
From massive GTA VI leaks to record-breaking trailers, the run into the official release has not been short on controversy. Here, we’ve put together everything we know about GTA VI, covering all bases in the lead-up to the world’s most anticipated video game.
GTA VI’s Second Trailer Shows off ‘Lucia and Jason’
In a move seemingly designed to specifically play with our emotions, Rockstar Games dropped the massively anticipated second trailer to GTA VI just a few days after announcing its delay to 26 May, 2026. The new trailer shows off more of Vice City, and gives us a deeper look into the Bonnie & Clyde-ish relationship between our lead characters: Lucia and Jason (yes, the leaks were right).
While you’re sure to see a whole bunch of “11 things you missed in the Second GTA VI Trailer” videos on YouTube soon—if they’re not already there—let’s dive into a few of the things we noticed in this second showing.
The main focus of this trailer is in showcasing the relationship between our playable characters, Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos. Jason appears to be short on cash, being harassed by his landlord for rent for the dilapidated waterfront home he lives in. Instead of paying his landlord, though, we see Jason rob a convenience store, buy some beer, and head to Leonida Penitentiary to pick up his partner, Lucia, who is getting released today. Once they’re together again, the pair quickly seem to turn to a life of crime.
In fact, Rockstar’s GTA VI website has been updated to provide some new details about couple:
“When an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a criminal conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida—forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive,” Rockstar revealed.
According to the game’s developer, while Jason grew up around grifters and crooks, he actually just wants an easy life—but things just keep getting harder. After spending time in the Army trying to make something of himself, he ended up back in the Leonida Keys working for drug runners.
Lucia, on the other hand, was thrown in prison for fighting—literally fighting, it appears she is a boxer—and that “sheer luck” has gotten her out of her jail time. She wants the “good life”, and is prepared to do anything to get it.
While it hasn’t been confirmed anywhere just yet, it’s very likely that GTA VI will handle switching characters in a similar way to GTA V—where you were able to, at the press of a button, jump to a different character wherever they are in the world.
As outlined in the first official trailer, Grand Theft Auto VI said the game would release sometime in 2025. However, the company recently announced that it was delaying the title to 26 May, 2026—noting it needed extra time to deliver the game at the quality fans expect.
“The interest and excitement surrounding a new Grand Theft Auto has been truly humbling for our entire team,” the game’s studio wrote. “We want to thank you for your support and your patience as we work to finish the game.”
Where is GTA VI Set?
“We’re a long way from the ’90s, but Vice City is still the sun and fun capital of America.”—Rockstar
The first GTA VI trailer confirmed the series will be returning to ‘Vice City’ (based on Miami, Florida) with opening visuals showcasing both the city, beaches, and the Everglade region with plenty of alligator wrangling and airboats. There are also scenes of speedboats racing by a dock area, low-riders pulling up to meets, mud trucks, sportbikes, strip clubs, superyachts, cargo ships in the ocean, seaplanes, and blimps.
Rockstar is clearly saving all the good stuff for us to discover when the game actually launches, but the trailer does give us a peek at the vibrant new city life, its beaches, NPCs, wildlife, things to do, and places to explore.
In the first trailer’s accompanying press release, Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games said, “Grand Theft Auto VI continues our efforts to push the limits of what’s possible in highly immersive, story-driven open-world experiences. We’re thrilled to be able to share this new vision with players everywhere.”
Potential Themes and Storylines in GTA VI
From the trailer, it seems the Jason-and-Lucia-based storyline will follow a ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ formula with gas station robberies, hold-ups, and plenty of running from the police. It’s unclear how this storyline links up to those other themes seen in the first trailer, including the ‘High Rollerz’ and social media accounts featured throughout, but if we were to follow the GTA 5 formula we’d expect the upcoming trailers to hint at alternative character-based storylines.
We see the city name ‘Leonida’ mentioned plenty of times throughout the trailer which indicates this is likely the ‘Los Santos’ equivalent. This includes the shot where a tattooed man’s face appears on-screen with the headlines translating to “CONFESSION WRITTEN IN INK (FOR TATTOOS): A tattoo on his neck that betrayed himself, key to the conviction of a man from Leonida.”
GTA VI Vehicles
The trailer showcases several returning vehicles to the game, including:
- Bravado Banshee 900R
- Declasse Tulip (driven by Lucia in the trailer)
- Grotti Cheetah Classic
- Pfister Comet S2 Cabrio
- Gauntlet Hellfire
- Schafter V12
- Coquette D10
- Benefactor Dubsta
- Albany Cavalcade
- Annis Hellion
- Comet Retro Custom
- Nagasaki Outlaw
- Willard Faction Custom Donk
- Vapid Sandking XL
- Virgo Classic Custom
It also adds several new vehicles that appear to represent:
- 2023 Chrysler 300 SRT
- 2023 Audi Q7
- 2023 Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
- 1990 Ford Mustang Foxbody
There are also plenty of Lowriders and what seems to be new custom vehicles as part of the ‘Thrillbilly Mud Club’ with big American pick-up trucks lifted on monster truck-style wheels and tires. If you look closely you’ll also see several ATV vehicles in the background.
GTA VI Development and Leaks
The highly anticipated sequel has been in the works for a long time now and stands out as one of the most remarkable games in video game history. The game suffered a major leak last year which flooded the internet with footage of an early build of the release and various unfinished gameplay, revealing numerous details.
A user by the name of ‘teapotuberhacker’ uploaded an overwhelming amount of GTA VI footage to the forum, which they argued was from a test build of Grand Theft Auto VI, running with “GTA V and VI source code and assets”.
Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier substantiated the authenticity of the leaked clips and photos, saying, “Not that there was much doubt, but I’ve confirmed with Rockstar sources that this weekend’s massive Grand Theft Auto VI leak is indeed real. The footage is early and unfinished, of course. This is one of the biggest leaks in video game history and a nightmare for Rockstar Games”.
Despite some conjecture over the validity of the leak, days after it first emerged, Rockstar Games responded, confirming the worst.
“We recently suffered a network intrusion in which an unauthorised third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from our systems, including early development footage for the next Grand Theft Auto,” Rockstar Games confirmed on Twitter. “At this time, we do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services not any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects.”
GTA VI Cost
While it may already hold a number of enviable records, Grand Theft Auto VI has one claim to fame that most developers would actively try to avoid. In May 2023, reports suggested the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto franchise might take the cake to become the most expensive video game ever made.
As per Dexerto, Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive Software’s highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI is heading towards a whopping “USD $1-2 billion” production budget after taking into consideration the marketing costs. GTA VI suffered a major leak last year, which revealed footage of the game’s early build and loads of unfinished gameplay, leading Rockstar Games to confirm that it is indeed hard at work on the next instalment. But since then the studio has been in a state of complete radio silence about the whole ordeal and hasn’t revealed much of anything.
Video game development costs have seen a massive uptick in recent years, which is partly driven by the increasing complexity and scale of modern titles as well as longer production cycles. GTA VI is one of the most highly anticipated games of the decade and given Rockstar’s obsession with attention to detail and the complex and expansive nature of its games, there are chances that it could drive development costs even higher. Additionally, GTA VI has been in development for almost 10 years now and the longer it takes to make the game, the higher the budget will be.
For context, when GTA 5 was released back in 2013, the insane cost of creating it was estimated to be USD$265 million (AUD$396 million). Despite its enormous cost, GTA 5 blew away any and all expectations on its launch day, pocketing over USD$800 million (AUD$1.2 billion) in cold, hard cash, and it hasn’t stopped there. Through next-gen re-releases and the ever-popular and growing GTA Online, the game is still rolling in the green.
As per Take-Two, GTA 5 has brought in USD$7.7 billion (AUD$11.4 billion) as of 2023 and still is a massive money maker for the company. So with numbers like that, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine GTA VI reaching or even surpassing the billion-dollar mark. Brace yourself, folks!
