GTA 6: All Confirmed Details on Release Date, Map, Characters, Cars & Price

As of August 18, 2025, Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6) has a firm, official launch date of May 26, 2026 after moving out of the earlier 2025 window; Rockstar announced the new date publicly and Take-Two has reiterated confidence in hitting it. The game will launch first on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, with no PC version announced for day one, and all footage in the second trailer was captured on PS5, underscoring that current-gen consoles are the target hardware at launch. If you’re planning a purchase or editorial calendar, treat the date, platforms, and trailer-capture details as the core, confirmed pillars so far. Rockstar GamesTake-Two InteractiveGamesRadar+

At a story level, GTA 6 returns to the neon heat of Vice City but stretches far beyond it into the wider, modern-day state of Leonida, Rockstar’s take on Florida. The narrative centers on **two protagonists—Lucia and Jason—**whose relationship evokes a contemporary Bonnie-and-Clyde dynamic: tense, intimate, and pushed to extremes by circumstance. Rockstar’s reveal materials and subsequent trailer update explicitly frame the pair’s arc as a criminal conspiracy spanning Leonida, with the two relying on each other to survive. Names, roles, and the dual-lead structure are all now widely reported and reflected in official pages and press roundups. Rockstar GamesTechRadar

Map-wise, expect a state-scale sandbox instead of a single city. Vice City’s urban glow sits alongside coastal islands, wetlands, rural highways, small towns, industrial zones, parks, and beach strips—a mixture that supports highway pursuits, off-road detours, and water-borne escapes. Official materials and reputable coverage consistently describe Leonida as a Florida-inspired expanse with Vice City at its heart and multiple distinct sub-regions beyond its skyline. In the two trailers you can already spot dense beaches, elevated freeways, neon tourist corridors, marinas, swampland, and long bridge spans—visual cues that suggest a map built for both spectacle and traversal variety. TechRadar

The visual presentation is the most dramatic leap the series has shown on console to date. Trailer 2 (captured on PS5) showcases cinematic lighting, highly reflective materials, convincing skin/hair shading, complex crowds, wildlife, weather effects, and detailed interiors/exteriors packed into every frame. Analysts and long-time Rockstar watchers widely infer ray-traced lighting and reflections plus a more modern iteration of Rockstar’s RAGE engine, though Rockstar hasn’t exhaustively detailed technical modes or performance targets yet. In practical terms, what’s on display communicates an emphasis on nightlife realism, water and glass fidelity, neon signage, and environmental density that exceeds past entries. Take-Two Interactive

Gameplay specifics are still being kept deliberately tight, but Rockstar’s two trailers and accompanying copy paint a picture of heists, street-level jobs, and systemic chaos amplified by a satirical, always-online culture. The footage leans hard into viral moments—bystanders recording, social-feed overlays, sensational local news cutaways—suggesting that in-world social media and “caught-on-camera” vignettes will amplify emergent events. Expect police pursuits across multilane causeways, watercraft chases in canals and coastal inlets, wildlife encounters in wetlands, and crowded nightlife districts where minor sparks escalate into full-blown GTA chaos. Press compendiums summarizing both trailers consistently highlight this “viral America” framing alongside the dual-protagonist structure and state-scale map. GamesRadar+

On vehicles, Rockstar has not published a final roster, but the trailers clearly show a broad garage: modern coupes and supercars, classic muscle, lifted pickups, dirt bikes, helicopters, small planes, speedboats, jet skis, and airboats (a natural fit for Leonida’s swamps). You can also spot police cruisers, interceptors, and marine units, hinting at pursuit escalation on land and water. As usual for GTA, expect deep customization and a healthy spread of fictional brands channeling real-world counterparts; for now, treat anything beyond what’s visible in trailers as speculation until Rockstar posts an official list. GamesRadar+

For characters beyond the leads, Rockstar has begun to seed named faces across stills and copy, while press outlets catalog recurring side players tied to music, nightlife, and crime. The tonal mix suggests a blend of local kingpins, hustlers, label owners, small-town operators, and online clout chasers, each designed to pull Jason and Lucia deeper into Leonida’s underbelly. The portrayal aims squarely at contemporary American satire: reality-show spectacle, influencer scandal, and small-screen moral panic, all refracted through a high-gloss Vice City lens. TechRadar

With platforms and price, the official stance is straightforward: PS5 and Xbox Series X|S at launch, PC unannounced. Pricing is not confirmed by Rockstar or Take-Two; however, the publisher has talked publicly about “value-based pricing,” which many industry watchers interpret as room for a higher-than-$70 base—or at least premium editions that climb toward or past the $100 mark. Until Rockstar reveals SKUs, treat any specific price or edition contents as informed conjecture rather than confirmation. Windows Central

From a marketing cadence standpoint, you now have two official trailers (the first from December 2023 and the second released May 6, 2025), plus Rockstar’s updated GTA VI site with story framing and imagery. Trailer 2’s note that all footage was captured on PS5 is particularly important for expectations setting. Given Rockstar’s historical pattern, anticipate targeted deep-dives (e.g., dedicated gameplay breakdowns, system overviews, or online-mode teases) closer to pre-orders—nothing is official yet, but that sequencing would align with prior Rockstar campaigns. YouTubeRockstar GamesTake-Two Interactive

What’s confirmed vs. not yet confirmed (easy clarity in one place)

• Confirmed: Release date (May 26, 2026), launch platforms (PS5, Xbox Series X|S), setting (Vice City within the state of Leonida), dual protagonists (Lucia & Jason), Trailer 2 captured on PS5. Rockstar Games+1Take-Two Interactive
• Not confirmed yet: PC release timing, price/editions, performance modes and target frame rates, complete vehicle list, full gameplay systems, and online component (naming, scope, or continuity with GTA Online). Windows Central

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Grand Theft Auto VI is Rockstar’s return to a neon-drenched Vice City that no longer feels like a single dot on the map but the glittering hub of a much bigger state of Leonida. In the footage revealed so far, the city’s famous beach strips and skyscraper views share frame time with long coastal bridges, marshy waterways, pastel motels, back-alley repair shops, roadside car meets, and late-night diners, all stitched together by a highway network built for high-speed getaways. The sense of scale and density is new even by GTA standards; panning shots capture sun-blasted high-rises at noon, rain-slick streets reflecting neon signage at night, and interiors stacked with small details—magazine racks, kitchen clutter, and lobby plants—signalling a world where almost every frame has a story. Trailer 2’s explicit “captured on PS5” note also matters: we’re seeing the game as it is intended to look on launch hardware, with convincing materials, complex reflections, natural skin and hair shading, and crowded spaces that feel truly lived in, rather than empty sets dressed for a chase. Take-Two Interactive

At the heart of that world are Lucia and Jason, a pair whose chemistry powers the plot and whose choices look likely to reverberate across Leonida’s criminal ecosystem. The reveal materials show Lucia in an orange jumpsuit and later on the move, suggesting a past that catches up fast; Jason appears as a steady, sometimes impulsive partner who shares both risk and motive. Their dynamic—intimate, improvisational, and often under pressure—feels designed for mission structures that pivot from carefully planned scores to chaotic escapes when the plan explodes. In a state where everyone is posting, streaming, and chasing clout, the camera is always on: bystanders raising phones, edited clips blasting across feeds, and local news hammering viral talking points. It’s GTA’s classic American satire, modernized around the speed and spectacle of today’s attention economy. GamesRadar+

Driving and traversal already look wonderfully varied. The trailers offer a full appetizer: modern supercars and coupes ripping down palm-lined avenues, classic muscle burning rubber outside clubs, lifted trucks digging through mud, dirt bikes hopping curbs near marinas, and airboats and jet skis carving through the waterways. The police presence is unmistakable, with cruisers, interceptors, patrol boats, and helicopters glimpsed across multiple shots—telegraphing escalation levels when pursuits go long. Expect sound design—engine growls, tire chatter, rotor slap, echoing sirens in concrete canyons—to be a central part of immersion, just as it was in the best moments of GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2, only now married to denser traffic and more varied road geometry. While final vehicle lists and tuning systems remain under wraps, history suggests deep customization, a robust damage model, and brand ecosystems that parody real-world automotive culture. GamesRadar+

On the technology front, the easy conclusion is that Rockstar is leveraging a next-gen iteration of RAGE, its in-house engine, and pushing it far harder than in 2018’s Red Dead Redemption 2 or the enhanced editions of GTA V. Texture fidelity is higher almost everywhere you look—cloth weave, leather grain, sequins, hair flyaways, scratched metals, wet concrete, and ocean foam—and the lighting and reflections in glass, puddles, and chrome suggest modern ray-tracing pipelines at work. Add in large, active crowds, animal AI in wetlands, weather systems, and interiors that look “lit for life” instead of quietly flat, and you can sense why the game was repositioned to a 2026 release. There’s still no official word on performance modes—resolution targets, 30 vs 60 fps options, VRR support, or ray-tracing toggles—so keep expectations flexible until Rockstar spells it out. Take-Two Interactive

For release and pricing, circle the date and the platforms and leave everything else as “to be announced.” The May 26, 2026 launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S is official, PC is unconfirmed, and while pricing hasn’t been disclosed, Take-Two’s leadership has been vocal about “value-based pricing” and multiple editions, prompting industry speculation that premium editions could climb toward or above the $100 mark. That doesn’t guarantee a $100 base SKU; it simply means don’t be surprised by a tiered lineup once pre-orders open. If you’re budgeting, plan for a standard AAA price plus special or collector editions; if you’re a PC player, pencil in a later window until Rockstar says otherwise. Rockstar GamesWindows Central

Finally, a note on what’s next. Rockstar historically staggers the information flow: cinematic trailers first, gameplay deep-dives closer to launch, and online-mode details even nearer to release or post-launch. Given that Trailer 2 landed on May 6, 2025, and the date is locked for May 2026, the safest expectation is additional official beats—screens, site updates, maybe a systems trailer—once we get within a tighter pre-order window. For now, the smartest SEO approach for content creators and retailers is to build around the confirmed facts—date, platforms, setting, protagonists—and use clear language to separate confirmed details from likely features inferred from footage. Rockstar Games

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• Primary keywords: GTA 6, Grand Theft Auto VI, GTA 6 release date, GTA 6 Vice City, GTA 6 Leonida, GTA 6 Lucia, GTA 6 Jason, GTA 6 map, GTA 6 graphics, GTA 6 price, GTA 6 platforms
• Secondary keywords: GTA 6 vehicles, GTA 6 story, GTA 6 trailer 2, GTA 6 PS5 footage, GTA 6 PC release, GTA 6 Rockstar
• Suggested slug: /gta-6-release-date-story-characters-vice-city-map-graphics-price
• H1/H2 structure: Use the title above as H1; convert each section here into H2/H3.
• Schema (add to page head): Article / NewsArticle with datePublished, dateModified, headline, author, image (use official trailer still), and sameAs referencing Rockstar’s GTA VI page.
• Internal links: Link to your GTA V guide, Red Dead tech analysis, and console buying guides (PS5 vs Series X|S).
• FAQ block: Include the “What’s confirmed vs. not confirmed” section as an FAQ for rich results.

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Quick FAQ (for featured snippets)

When is GTA 6 coming out?
May 26, 2026, confirmed by Rockstar; Take-Two continues to signal confidence in that date. Rockstar Games

What platforms will GTA 6 launch on?

PS5 and Xbox Series X|S at launch; PC is not announced yet. Rockstar Games

Who are the main characters in GTA 6?

Lucia and Jason, a dual-protagonist pair driving a modern, high-stakes crime story across Leonida. TechRadar

Where is GTA 6 set?

Vice City and the larger state of Leonida (Florida-inspired), as shown across Rockstar’s trailers and site. Rockstar Games

How much will GTA 6 cost?

TBD. Take-Two has discussed value-based pricing; analysts expect tiered editions and potential premium pricing, but nothing official yet. Windows Central

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