Long before it was even formally announced, Grand Theft Auto 6 has been one of the most anticipated games of all time — if not the most. The hype for it has been historic, with interest in the game becoming its own industry of speculative content and fake leaks. One trailer back in December 2023 seemed to be all that interested players needed to determine that the long-awaited sequel would be an all-time classic before even playing it.
But not me. I’ve been on the outskirts of the hype cycle for a decade, scratching my head at the buzz. It’s not that I didn’t think Grand Theft Auto 6 would be a solid open-world game. Rockstar Games has an excellent track record and there’s no reason for me to think that it’ll fumble the ball at its most important moment. But there’s also been no reason for me to think anything about it at all. With only one trailer to go on, I’ve been left to trust Rockstar mostly sight unseen and give in to an unearned cultural consensus.
With Grand Theft Auto 6‘s second trailer now out in the world, I finally have a real reason to anticipate its May 26, 2026 release date.
The new trailer is an impressive bit of marketing from Rockstar, who needed to recontrol the game’s narrative after a heartbreaking delay last week. To ease that pain, it came out swinging today with a trailer that goes into more depth about the open-world game’s story and a massive website update filled with new details. We now know a few more things. For one, it all looks remarkable. The footage in the trailer was entirely captured on PS5 and it features detailed interior spaces, lifelike humans, and gorgeous lighting that does the sunshine state justice. That’s a good start.
From there, we learned much more about its Bonnie and Clyde inspired story. We get a close look at Jason and Lucia’s relationship, as the criminal couple looks to start a new life in Vice City. Tonally, it’s sleek and sexy, drawing some clear inspirations from films like Miami Vice. That’s a far cry from what we saw in the game’s first trailer, which dealt more in the kind of irreverent satire the series is known for. It was hard to get a sense of what GTA6 would actually feel like from that clip, but I have a much better feel for it now. I can get down with a true Hollywood crime drama with a central relationship dynamic that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen in a video game.
The game’s website update also gives me plenty more to go off of. Updated character bios give me a better sense of the story. New looks at its playable locations build out the diversity I can expect from its environments. All of these details are tangible reasons to look forward to GTA6, not hollow hype meant to draw me to a foregone conclusion.
Even then, there’s still plenty of question marks left that should keep even the most excited fans back on Earth. The trailer teases an exciting story with a huge world, but still haven’t seen a second of gameplay. The last Grand Theft Auto game launched over a decade ago and the open-world genre has changed significantly since then. Will Rockstar’s latest feel behind the times when it finally launches? I genuinely don’t know and nothing I’ve seen so far really addresses that concern. Even if I’m now more down for the story, Rockstar still has some work to do if its going to fully capture me in its inescapable hype hurricane.
That big caveat aside, this is the first time that I’ve really felt like Grand Theft Auto 6 could be something special based on concrete details instead of rumors and assumptions. At the very least, it looks like it’s bringing the energy of a Michael Mann thriller to an open-world game and doing it with some impressive technical chops. There’s still a long year ahead to its release and I won’t be fully won over by anything until I can actually play it, but Rockstar has now earned my attention. That’s one hurdle cleared.
Grand Theft Auto 6 launches on May 26, 2026 for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
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