No teaser, no countdown, no warning. Rockstar just dropped the Grand Theft Auto VI launch trailer, 90 seconds of Vice City at full volume, and it’s the last big look before the game lands on Thursday 19 November. It’s a month away. After a decade of memes, two delays and more leaks than a Wellington villa, it’s actually happening.
Here’s what’s in the trailer and everything else you need to know before launch.
What’s in the trailer
- Jason gets a backstory. “I got in trouble in the army. Didn’t leave on the best of terms,” he says, adding that nobody gives loans to people like him. So that’s how he ends up doing crimes with Lucia.
- Lucia’s ankle monitor. She’s out of prison but still on house arrest, and the monitor shows up in one of the trailer’s spiciest shots.
- Yes, there’s a sex scene. Three quick shots of Jason and Lucia in the shower, played more tender than trashy. GTA has come a long way from Hot Coffee.
- Heists, chases, gunfights and dogs in goggles. Plenty of the expected chaos, plus the pets Rockstar has already confirmed, and the pair rocking different outfits and hairstyles throughout.
- Captured on a base PS5. Not a PS5 Pro, the regular console. Most publishers use the Pro so the footage looks its best, so that’s a confident move.
- That voice. The “Grand Theft Auto” voiceover at the end is the same guy from GTA V’s trailers. Instant goosebumps.
The song
The trailer debuts “Flower in a Hurricane” by Justice featuring Tame Impala, SZA and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Justice also composed GTA 6’s original score, and Rockstar says the track will be on the official soundtrack release. Kevin Parker and King Gizzard on the same GTA track: the Australians are well represented.
Release date, price and preload
- Release: Thursday 19 November 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with PS5 Pro enhancements.
- Preload: starts 12 November, a week early.
- Price: US$79.99 for the Standard Edition and US$99.99 for the Ultimate Edition. Locally, it’s been reported at NZ$139.95 and NZ$174.95. Pre-order before launch and you get the Vintage Vice City Pack.
- Boxed copies have no disc. The “physical” edition is a download code in a box, so either way you’re downloading it.
- Unlock time: Rockstar hasn’t confirmed regional unlock times yet. If it unlocks at local midnight like most digital launches, NZ is first on the planet. Our countdown is set to midnight NZ time on the 19th, and we’ll update it if Rockstar says otherwise.
- No PC at launch. It’s not announced for PC or Switch 2, and you can’t stream it to PC through Xbox Cloud Gaming either.
Everything else going on this week
The launch trailer capped off a huge few days of GTA news:
- It’s eligible for The Game Awards. This year’s cutoff is 20 November at 9pm PT, the day after GTA 6 launches. How convenient. Kotaku notes that prediction markets already give it a 68% chance of winning Game of the Year before anyone has played it.
- Review codes by the end of October? That’s according to leaker NateTheHate, and it’s unconfirmed. It would give critics a few weeks with a very big game.
- The delay phone call. In a long Bloomberg feature, Rockstar’s head of publishing Jennifer Kolbe said that when she called Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick about the second delay, his response was, “Please tell me you’re kidding.” He came around.
- Rockstar on the 2022 leak. Rockstar North’s Aaron Garbut said seeing the leaked footage felt “like somebody’s wading through your dirty washing.” Rockstar is still keeping staff off work-from-home for security reasons.
- The leaker says they’re done. The leaker known as Cyberleek, who has been drip-feeding gameplay clips since August, says they’re stopping and won’t release the ending. We’re not linking any of it. Wait for the real thing.
- GTA V leaves PS Plus on 17 November, two days before 6 launches. Sony’s reminder email comes with a GTA VI pre-order button, of course.
It’s also worth a rewatch of August’s 26-minute Extended Look, which was the first proper look at gameplay, and our guide on getting the day off for GTA 6 in NZ and Australia.
Our take
Rockstar is the only studio that can drop a 90-second trailer with no warning and have the whole internet stop what it’s doing. And credit where it’s due: putting the regular PS5 next to “captured on” instead of a Pro is a flex. It means console players are seeing what they’ll actually get on the 19th.
But let’s not pretend everything’s perfect. A US$80 base price with no disc in the box is a cheek. The “physical edition” is just a code in some cardboard, and Rockstar knows we’ll buy it anyway. And the Game Awards moving its cutoff to the day after GTA 6 launches? Come on. Hand it the trophy now and save everyone the ceremony.
Still, if the game is half as good as this trailer, nobody is getting any work done on 19 November. The countdown is on the homepage. Book your leave, clear your storage, and start practising your “sorry, sick day” voice.
Pre-ordered, or holding out for reviews? Tell us in the comments or on the GetRekt Discord.
Sources
Comments 0
Quick check before we post that