Gab Hernandez 
GTA 6, after years of anticipation, finally has a confirmed release date but it didn’t come in the way Rockstar Games was hoping.
Grand Theft Auto 6 marks the longest gap between two consecutive GTA titles ever. GTA 5 launched in 2013 to high acclaim, with the GTA Online lingering for over a decade. Though the series has been massive for a long while now, it has grown in popularity without even releasing new games.
Fans have been craving a new game, though. Details on GTA 6 have been reported on for years, with details coming out after, Rockstar made major changes to its workflow due to controversy surrounding reported developer crunch before the launch of Red Dead Redemption 2. A massive leak in September 2022 showed the progress the team had made, but Rockstar remained quiet on what was in store.
Unfortunately for the publisher, leaks continue to define the game’s development. The trailer for the game seemingly leaked online 15 hours ahead of schedule. This was confirmed to be legitimate as Rockstar issued a takedown of the video and posted it officially on its social media channels.
What is the GTA 6 release date?
GTA 6 will be released in 2025. An exact release date was not confirmed, but Rockstar Games’ financial reports suggest it will come out in the first quarter of the year.
GTA 6 has been in development for years and fans still have some time to wait before they’ll be playing the game. Expectations are extremely high when it comes to Grand Theft Auto games, which would have necessitated plenty of time on the proverbial stove. But there were other factors alongside this including a global catastrophe, a Rockstar founder opening their own studio, and other notable figures leaving with him.
Despite this, fans will seemingly get something compelling in GTA 6. Though it wasn’t fully detailed in the trailer, the map is reportedly even bigger than Los Santos in GTA 6, making this an enormous open world to explore.
One of the criticisms of GTA 5 was the lack of activities worth doing, despite the massive scale. There were a few mini-games, but they were often connected by large swathes of the city without much to do other than drive recklessly. There were teases that GTA 6 will have more dynamic NPCs as well as more random activities for the player to take part in.
Another thing to consider is the future of GTA Online. Although a significant content update for GTA Online drops this December, it’s currently unknown if that ecosystem will be moved over to GTA 6 once it’s officially out. Given the extreme financial success that GTA Online has brought for Rockstar, it’s a question of when, not if, an online component will be present for GTA 6.
At the end of the day though, this is just a reveal trailer for GTA 6. The coming months will likely reveal more substantial details about the upcoming title. Even so, the decade of hype behind GTA 6 is at an all-time high, and Rockstar Games will need all hands on deck to deliver on those grand expectations as the actual release date approaches.
