Grand Theft Auto VI arrives on November 19, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, closing a story that a leaked trailer blew open in December 2023. Between that reveal and today’s countdown sit two delays, a confirmed $79.99 price, open preorders and an extended look that premieres on Netflix this week. Here is the full timeline behind the decade’s most anticipated launch.
February 2022 to December 2023: confirmation, then chaos
Rockstar broke a decade of silence in February 2022, confirming the next Grand Theft Auto was in development. Then nothing for almost two years — until December 4, 2023. The trailer was scheduled for the following day, but a leak forced Rockstar’s hand and the studio published it early. That first look settled every long-running rumor: the series was returning to Vice City, inside a Florida-inspired state named Leonida, with Lucia Caminos as the first female lead of a mainline 3D-era GTA. The video shattered view-count records within a day, and its closing card promised a 2025 launch.
May 2025: the first delay, then a second trailer
That 2025 window did not last. In early May 2025 Rockstar moved the game to May 26, 2026, citing the need for extra polish rather than trouble in development. The disappointment did not linger, because trailer two landed days afterwards and introduced Jason Duval as Lucia’s partner — a Bonnie-and-Clyde-style crime duo. Our trailer 2 breakdown covers what that reveal confirmed, from Leonida’s locations to the game’s visual ambitions.
November 2025: the date that finally stuck
Six months later the pattern repeated: alongside Take-Two’s earnings report in early November 2025, Rockstar shifted the launch from May to November 19, 2026. This one held: Take-Two chief Strauss Zelnick has reaffirmed the date repeatedly through 2026, including in early August. Both slips, with the official statements and fan reaction around them, are covered in our GTA 6 delay history.
2026: price, preorders and a Netflix premiere
This year turned promise into a concrete launch plan:
- June 24, 2026 — Rockstar confirmed pricing at last: $79.99 for the Standard Edition and $99.99 for the Ultimate Edition, ending more than a year of “$100 game” speculation.
- June 25, 2026 — preorders opened across the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, Rockstar Store and retailers worldwide. Anyone who buys before November 20 gets the Vintage Vice City Pack — a 1955 Vapid Stanier with its own garage, period outfits for Jason and Lucia, and a tropical weapon finish — while digital preorders add a month of GTA+.
- August 27, 2026 — the next entry on this timeline rather than a past one: Netflix carries Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look first, at 3 p.m. ET, and only once that six-hour head start runs out, at 9 p.m. ET, does the video appear on Rockstar’s YouTube channel and the official GTA VI site.
- November 12, 2026 — digital preload opens, a week ahead of launch day.
Rockstar has not itemized what the extended look contains, so the widespread assumption that it delivers the first official gameplay stays exactly that — an assumption, three days out. A six-hour streaming exclusivity window for a game trailer is uncharted territory, and it says plenty about the scale of this launch. For what the community expects, see our trailer 3 speculation roundup, while Rockstar’s official GTA VI site stays the primary source from here.
The one milestone still missing
A PC announcement has never come. Rockstar shipped GTA V on consoles in September 2013 and on PC in April 2015, and Red Dead Redemption 2 reached PC just over a year after its console debut. Nothing suggests GTA 6 will break the habit, but nothing official exists either — and the same silence covers Nintendo Switch 2. Our GTA 6 release date overview tracks the PC question alongside the rest of the confirmed picture. Once the game ships and a modding scene forms, CrashMods will be ready to host it.
