Rockstar’s return to Vice City is shaping up to be the biggest entertainment launch of the decade. Few games in history have carried this much anticipation: Grand Theft Auto VI is the follow-up to a title that has sold for over a decade and become a cultural fixture, and every trailer Rockstar releases breaks the internet within hours. Set in the state of Leonida, GTA VI follows Lucia and Jason in a Bonnie-and-Clyde-inspired crime saga — with Lucia as the series’ first female protagonist. Here is everything we know so far, gathered from the official trailers and announcements, and we will keep this hub updated as the countdown to launch continues.
The Story: Lucia and Jason
GTA VI is built around two protagonists. Lucia Caminos is introduced in the first trailer fresh out of Leonida Penitentiary, and the second trailer filled in more of the picture: Jason Duval, who works for local drug runners around the Leonida Keys, crosses paths with her, and the two become partners in both crime and romance. Rockstar describes their story as a conspiracy that forces them to rely on each other to survive — a modern Bonnie and Clyde dynamic that marks a tonal shift from GTA V’s trio of already-established criminals. The trailers suggest a story told from the bottom up: small scores, mounting heat, and a state that keeps pulling them back in.
Having two leads also opens the door to the character-switching that made GTA V’s missions so dynamic, though Rockstar has kept the exact mechanics under wraps. What is clear is that Lucia is front and centre — a historic first for a series that has been running since 1997.
The World: Welcome Back to Leonida
The setting is the game’s other star. Vice City returns — the neon-soaked, Miami-inspired city last seen in 2002’s Vice City and 2006’s Vice City Stories — but it is now just one part of the much larger state of Leonida. Trailers have shown swampy grasslands patrolled by airboats, the tropical Leonida Keys, mud parties, beach crowds, alligators wandering into convenience stores, and a version of Florida life so recognisable that real residents have been picking out landmarks frame by frame.
The detail on display is staggering: dynamic crowds that react to the world, wildlife, mud that clings to vehicles and bodies, and in-universe social media woven into the fabric of the game — the first trailer famously framed several scenes as phone clips and livestreams, suggesting Leonida’s citizens document everything. If Rockstar’s track record is anything to go by, this will be the most alive open world the studio has ever built, and one designed to be explored for years.
What the Trailers Showed
The first trailer, released in December 2023 after an infamous early leak forced Rockstar’s hand, was a tone piece: sun, crime, chaos and that social-media lens on Leonida life. The second trailer, which arrived in May 2025 alongside a trove of official screenshots and artwork, was captured on PlayStation 5 and dug deeper into Jason and Lucia’s lives — their neighbourhoods, their associates, and the score that sets the plot in motion. Together, the two trailers confirmed a modern-day setting (not a return to the eighties), a heavier emphasis on story, and visual fidelity that set a new benchmark for open-world games. Rockstar has a history of revealing gameplay close to launch, so a third trailer with raw gameplay is the community’s most-wanted next drop.
Release Date and Platforms
Here is the part everyone asks about. GTA VI was originally targeting a 2025 release. In May 2025, Rockstar announced a delay, and the game is now officially scheduled to launch on May 26, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Rockstar’s message accompanying the delay was a familiar one: the extra time is needed to deliver the level of quality players expect. Given the studio’s history — Red Dead Redemption 2 slipped multiple times and arrived as a generation-defining game — most fans, however impatient, accepted the trade.
On PC, the situation follows Rockstar tradition: no PC version has been announced for launch. GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 both arrived on PC well over a year after consoles, so PC players should expect a wait, even if Rockstar has not confirmed anything either way. Likewise, there has been no announcement of a version for last-generation consoles — Leonida is being built for current hardware only.
The Long Road Here — Leaks, Silence and Records
The journey to this point has been an event in itself. GTA VI’s development became public in the worst possible way in September 2022, when a major leak spilled dozens of early in-development clips online — one of the biggest breaches in industry history, and the moment the world first saw Lucia and the return to Vice City, years before Rockstar was ready to talk. Rockstar confirmed the footage was real, promised it would not change development, and then went silent for over a year.
When the official reveal finally came in December 2023, it leaked hours early too, prompting Rockstar to simply release the trailer ahead of schedule — which promptly raced to record-breaking viewing figures for a game reveal on YouTube. The years of silence in between, punctuated by Take-Two’s financial reports carefully describing the game as on track, only fed the fever. All of which explains the reaction to the second trailer and the new May 2026 date: this is not just a sequel, it is the end of the longest and loudest waiting game in entertainment.
Why It Matters
It is hard to overstate what this game means for the industry. GTA V has remained a chart fixture for more than a decade, and GTA Online built an economy around it; a successor lands like a meteor. Publishers visibly plan around it — the industry spent much of 2025 openly wondering which releases would have to dodge GTA VI’s shadow — and its May 2026 date is now the fixed point around which the whole release calendar turns. When it arrives, it will not just be a game launch; it will be a pop-culture event, and Leonida will be its stage.
What to Expect Next
Between now and May 26, 2026, expect the usual Rockstar rhythm: a gameplay-focused trailer, official word on any special editions, and — the big open question — the first details of the game’s online component, which Rockstar has yet to discuss. We will update this hub with every trailer, announcement and confirmed detail as they land. The countdown to Vice City is on.
