Pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI — the most anticipated video game release in years — will open on June 25, Rockstar Games announced Thursday. The game itself lands on November 19 after two delays, more than 13 years after its predecessor, GTA V, became the second best-selling video game in history.
Rockstar posted the date on X, along with official cover art. The company didn't say how much it will cost, but analysts expect a base price of $80. That's based on recent comments from Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick and industry reports. Some online rumours had suggested the price could climb toward $100 and reset industry norms.
The game returns to Vice City, a fictional version of Miami, and follows a criminal couple named Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos. It will feature a playable female protagonist for the first time in the franchise's history. A trailer released earlier showed the Miami-like setting and the two main characters.
GTA VI was originally scheduled for 2025 but was pushed back twice. Rockstar hasn't given reasons for the delays.
"Very, very exciting and terrifying because the expectations are so high." — Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick on the hype around GTA VI
GTA V, released in 2013, hit $1 billion in sales within three days — at the time the fastest any entertainment product had ever reached that mark. It has since sold more than 230 million copies worldwide, trailing only Minecraft among the best-selling games ever. Its online mode, GTA Online, has kept making money for Rockstar for over a decade.
The Grand Theft Auto franchise has always been controversial. Critics say it glorifies violence and criminal behaviour. Players can sell drugs, fight, rob, go on car rampages, assault sex workers, and visit strip clubs. Activists have repeatedly called for tighter controls. Take-Two has rejected these allegations.
Development of GTA VI hasn't been smooth. In 2022, unfinished footage from the game was leaked online in one of the biggest security breaches in gaming history. Last year, Rockstar fired dozens of employees, and labour organisers accused the company of union-busting.
Rockstar is owned by New York-based Take-Two Interactive. The first GTA game came out in 1997, and the franchise has since become a cultural phenomenon — as popular for its open-world gameplay as it is notorious for its mature content.
Now the question is whether the final product can live up to the hype. Zelnick himself called the situation "very, very exciting and terrifying because the expectations are so high."