GTA VI: all the news on Rockstar’s next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series

After teasing a music-related reveal a few days ago, Rockstar has officially announced the soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto VI. Called Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album, the soundtrack will feature 34 songs, which Rockstar describes as “brand-new, original tracks.” Based on the first six singles, which are available today, it seems that the collection will span a pretty wide range of genres, with everyone from Keith Richards to Travis Scott contributing.

Here’s what’s been confirmed so far:

There’s never really been a game like Grand Theft Auto VI before, one that has completely altered the lineup of games around it. Everyone, it seems, is scared of going up against Grand Theft Auto VI. Everyone, that is, except for Nintendo.

The company held a 30-minute showcase this morning focused entirely on its Legend of Zelda franchise, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. We got a title for the live-action movie, a series of orchestral concerts, and a very glittery special edition of the Switch 2. But most of the runtime was dedicated to the upcoming Switch 2 remake of Ocarina of Time. There was a new trailer and a lengthy gameplay video that showed how Nintendo is approaching this remake, which includes more realistic graphics and new features like a free camera. But perhaps the most notable detail is when the game launches: November 5th.

Rockstar has officially published its “extended look” at Grand Theft Auto VI on YouTube and on its website, as promised. The in-depth preview, which “entirely” features footage captured from the PS5 version of the game, initially premiered on Netflix at 3PM ET. But because Rockstar allowed creators to post reaction videos, you’ve technically been able to watch the video on YouTube before the studio’s official upload.

The nearly 27-minute preview largely focuses more on atmosphere, protagonists Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, and highlighting locations in the game instead of diving deep on specific game mechanics. It feels more like slices of a movie than a video game trailer. But there are a few sections showing off playable shootouts and police car chases as well as activities like shooting a basketball and scuba diving. Other outlets that got previews from Rockstar have more details on gameplay that weren’t included in the video.

I think I know why Rockstar Games debuted its “extended look” of Grand Theft Auto VI on Netflix instead of immediately dropping it for free on YouTube. Unlike most video game trailers, the almost 27-minute preview of GTA VI felt more like a slice of a prestige crime drama than any video game trailer that I’ve ever seen. To make a new game that lasts another decade or more and potentially rivals the success of its predecessor, Rockstar is clearly trying to further blur the lines between Hollywood and video games.

The line between games and movies has been getting consistently fuzzier. Look no further than this year’s James Bond game, 007 First Light, which has the snappy pacing, acting, and cinematography of a great action film. And TV shows and movies are increasingly pulling from video games for inspiration, to say nothing of entire TV and movie franchises being built around successful video games. Now, a video game trailer has wedged between prestige TV and streaming hit movies — after watching the GTA VI preview, Netflix is suggesting I watch Breaking Bad next.

Netflix and Rockstar Games finally debuted their “extended look” at Grand Theft Auto VI. It showed that the new game looks to keep much of the spirit of GTA — exploration, driving, crimes, shooting, and cinematic story scenes. But everything just looks much better than previous entries, with impressive graphics, densely packed rooms, and detailed environments. The footage was captured on PS5, according to the end of the video.

A key focus of the game seems to be how protagonists Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos work together. In one scene, it appears you play as Duval as he hangs out of the window of a car that Caminos is driving so he can shoot at police chasing after them. Later, though, it looks like the player controls Caminos as the driver while Duval and another character keep shooting the police.

Rockstar Games has released its first official statement following days of sustained leaks of footage from Grand Theft Auto VI, calling the period “heartbreaking for our team.” Not long after Rockstar posted, another leaked video appeared, this time showing the Jason character pulling off the series’ trademark move of carjacking a box Chevy-like vehicle with a “Rideout Customs” logo across the back window and trying to evade the police. At the end, the other main character of the game, Lucia, appears briefly in what looks like a cutscene.

“It would be an understatement to say that having videos of Grand Theft Auto VI gameplay leak in this way has been heartbreaking for our team, and this is obviously not how we intended for you to see the game after all this time,” the studio said in its statement published Wednesday morning on social media. “We are very sorry that everything has taken as long as it has — from getting the game finished (nearly there!) to sharing more details and official gameplay, and providing the community with everything you want to know.”

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Four years ago, fans got a long-awaited look at Grand Theft Auto VI with a huge cache of videos that showed off Rockstar’s latest open-world epic. There were 90 videos in total, providing a glimpse at the next-generation take on Vice City, introducing the game’s new dual protagonists, and generally showing off the crime-fueled mayhem the series is known for. The twist? This wasn’t some official reveal. The videos were part of a massive leak in September 2022 that ultimately ended with a life sentence in a secure hospital for the hacker, and they dropped months before Rockstar properly unveiled GTA VI to the world with its debut trailer.

Following several apparent video leaks of Grand Theft Auto VI, Take-Two Interactive requested to be able to subpoena Microsoft and Discord over content that “infringes copyrights” held for the game, Kotaku reports. In the requests, filed on Thursday, Take-Two says copyrighted material includes “audiovisual content, artwork, images, dialogue, or other creative elements” and it is looking to identify “alleged infringers at issue.” The requests give Microsoft and Discord until September 4th to produce the requested information.

The requests were approved on Friday. However, Discord marketing director Ryan Rigney said on Monday that the company “has not yet been served with a subpoena from Take Two.” On X, Xbox CTO Scott Van Vliet said Friday that “We are working closely with Take-Two and Rockstar Games to support efforts to protect creative works and intellectual property.”

Clips of what appears to be Grand Theft Auto VI have hit the internet, possibly spoiling aspects of the game ahead of Rockstar Games’ deep dive debuting on Netflix next week and its long-awaited launch in November.

I’ve seen three clips seemingly showing off the game, though two have been pulled from the site I saw them on “due to a copyright claim.” The first clip (now removed) was a quiet scene that mostly focused on Jason Duval, one the game’s two protagonists, shooting a basketball into a hoop. Another clip (also removed) featured more of the crime-focused gameplay you’d expect from GTA, including Duval hitting a person with a wrench, and also showed the return of a six-star Wanted system.