'GTA 6' Launch Trailer and Release Date Revealed: Jason and Lucia's Vice City Crime Spree Arrives

Few video games have tested the patience of fans quite like ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’. The release will come more than 13 years after ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ first arrived in September 2013. Every leak, rumor and screenshot in between has been picked apart, so the wait for fresh ‘GTA 6’ footage has been agonizing.

Rockstar formally revealed the game in December 2023, and it has since been delayed twice. It was first targeted for fall 2025, then moved to May 26, 2026, and then pushed back another 6 months. The company’s stated reason was extra time to finish the game with the polish players expect, and Take-Two shares fell about 7% after the news.

Now the finish line is in sight. Rockstar has released the official launch trailer, a 90-second clip that details the plot and introduces newcomers to protagonists Jason and Lucia. It arrives just over a month before launch and kicks off the final marketing push, with the release date confirmed for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, and a PC release expected early next year.

Watch the Grand Theft Auto VI Launch Trailer, featuring the debut of “Flower in a Hurricane" from original score composers Justice feat. Tame Impala, SZA, and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Grand Theft Auto VI arrives November 19: https://t.co/WC41QIhkKd https://t.co/KpnUHs47JC
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) October 15, 2026

The trailer opens with Jason explaining his military career before he gets a phone call from Lucia. We also see Lucia calling Jason from jail as the pair reconnect ahead of their adventure together. One outlet described the whole thing as very ‘Thelma & Louise’-inspired.

The action escalates quickly from there. Footage shows Jason in the army, Lucia leaping onto the landing gear of a moving airplane, and both of them causing havoc throughout Leonida. There is also a steamy shower scene between the two.

The official description sets up the stakes. An easy score goes wrong, and the pair end up on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a criminal conspiracy stretching across Leonida. They have to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive.

Not everyone found a bombshell in it. One outlet called it a cinematic preview of the story that is typical of Rockstar launch trailers, with new footage but nothing particularly noteworthy in terms of reveals. For a trailer meant to build hype rather than spoil plot, that may be the point.

Rockstar says the trailer was captured entirely in-game on a PlayStation 5. For a game this ambitious, that is a confident way to show off what players will actually see on launch day.

The music is another highlight. The trailer debuts “Flower in a Hurricane” from original score composers Justice, featuring Tame Impala, SZA and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. The track is also on ‘Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album’, the official soundtrack, which is available to pre-save on streaming services and to pre-order on vinyl or CD.

The trailer reinforces what Rockstar has been teasing for months. It focuses on Jason and Lucia’s relationship and criminal escapades, with a deeper look at Vice City and its surrounding areas. Vice City is the Miami-like hotspot, and Leonida is the Florida-inspired state around it.

The pairing is also a first for the series. Lucia is the first female protagonist in a mainline 3D ‘Grand Theft Auto’, and Rockstar has suggested players will be able to switch between her and Jason during missions. Cultivating the relationship is a big part of the game, though you can also have them break up and stay friends who commit crimes together.

Confidence from the top has been consistent. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said he was highly confident in the current date, even while acknowledging there is always some risk of slippage. A full launch trailer this close to release is the clearest sign yet that the schedule is holding.

Looking further ahead, studio heads Phil Hooker and Aaron Garbut told Bloomberg there won’t be another 8-year gap between ‘GTA 6’ and Rockstar’s next game. That should be some comfort to fans who have waited so long for this one.