GTA VI Finally Has a Launch Trailer, 13 Years After GTA V and Two Delays Later
Rockstar's 90-second trailer landed Oct. 15. The game arrives Nov. 19 on PS5 and Xbox, and PC players are still waiting by the phone.
By the Heckle Desk · · 2 min read
Rockstar Games released the launch trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI on October 15, about ninety seconds of Vice City, the fictional state of Leonida, and the game's two leads, Jason and Lucia, robbing and running and being chased by helicopters. Rockstar says the footage was captured in the game on a PlayStation 5. Four days later it was still among the top searches in America, which is more than you can say for most elected officials.
The game comes out November 19 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. That date is itself a sequel. GTA VI was first promised for 2025, then moved to May 26, 2026, then moved again, in November of last year, to its current date. Grand Theft Auto V came out in 2013. A child born the day it launched is now old enough to be told he can't play this one.
The trailer debuts a new song by Justice, and it gives away very little of the plot, which is wise. Rockstar's second trailer, the company said, drew more than 475 million views across platforms in its first day. That's a company counting its own crowd, which is the kind of number you should treat like a fisherman's description of a fish. But even if you halve it, it's more people than have ever voluntarily watched anything I've written, my own family included.
There's no confirmed PC version. GamesBeat reported, citing four unnamed sources, that one is planned for early 2027; Rockstar hasn't said. So the PC crowd, who've spent a decade building machines that cost as much as a used Honda, will once again watch console players have fun first. It's the gaming equivalent of buying a yacht and being told the lake opens next spring.
What I admire about Rockstar is its total lack of hurry. It's a company that can delay a product twice, by a year and a half in total, and have its customers thank it for the courtesy. Most businesses that late would be sued. Rockstar gets a parade and a pre-order.
Thirteen years is a long time to wait for anything. Men have gone to war and come home in less. But I suspect a lot of the people who waited for this game would tell you the war was easier, because at least in the war somebody told you when it would end.