After years of waiting, Rockstar Games have finally announced a release date for Grand Theft Auto VI. It will be the eighth main game in the incredibly popular GTA franchise. Fans have been long awaiting this news; the most recent edition, GTA V, was released in 2013. However they will have to wait a little longer to actually play the game, GTA VI will come to PlayStation and Xbox in 2025.
The trailer, released on the 5th of December, gave us an insight into what to expect when the game is eventually launched. GTA VI will follow the story of main character Lucia, the first female protagonist since the 1990s, and her male accomplice. The first scene of the 90-second teaser shows Lucia as an inmate before she evades custody with her partner in a relationship largely dependent on trust. The criminal duo has been likened to a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde.
In this edition of Grand Theft Auto, we return to the fictional world of Vice City. Last visited in 2002 on the PlayStation 2, it is based on Miami, Florida, with scenes depicting popular locations within the city, such as Miami Beach and Wynwood. However, players will be able to explore more than just the city, with Lucia’s story extending throughout the fictional state of Leonida and into the wetlands of the national park, inspired by the Everglades. As a city, Miami is known for its picture-perfect beaches, beautiful skyline, multiculturalism and, most importantly, vibrant nightlife – a prominent feature of the trailer.
In this edition of Grand Theft Auto, we return to the fictional world of Vice City. Last visited in 2002 on the PlayStation 2, it is based on Miami, Florida.
Since Rockstar Games released GTA V, Florida has produced many videos that have gone viral on the internet and have subsequently been included in GTA VI. These real-life references help to bring the fictional city to life. Examples include the man who did his yard work naked, a woman riding on the roof of a car, an alligator entering a department store, the ‘Florida Joker’ mugshot and a woman carrying hammers in public, which was admittedly recorded in Los Angeles. These clips are shared on platforms replicating TikTok, further illustrating Vice City as a real place and creating parallels between fiction and reality.
However, while news of a trailer release has managed to reach headlines around the world, it can be described as a teaser at best with plenty of information still to be unveiled. In truth, we do not learn much about main character Lucia and we are yet to find out who the voice actor is. We also do not have details of the map size. There were rumours suggesting that GTA VI might include multiple cities and airports, but there was no evidence to support this in the trailer. Another question that fans have is that of the consoles it will be available on. Rockstar Games confirmed that it will be available on PlayStation and Xbox but failed to mention PC. If it follows the pattern of GTA V, a PC launch will soon follow suit.
GTA V is the third best-selling video game of all time with over 185 million copies sold worldwide. The hype surrounding the latest edition and rumours of a 2-billion-dollar budget seem to suggest that GTA VI has the potential to surpass that this number. The trailer did not outline anything in terms of pre-order nor price while the release date was not specific. Therefore it seems that fans will have to wait a little longer to find out the finer details before the game goes on general sale at some point during 2025. All will be revealed in due course.
