GAME · 2026 · USA
Grand Theft Auto VI
40 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (40)
- #001
Grand Theft Auto VI was officially announced by Rockstar Games on February 4, 2022, on the Rockstar Newswire.
- #002
Grand Theft Auto VI is set to break a new record as the most expensive production in history. Reports indicate its budget could range between $1 and $2 billion, which would make it the most costly production ever made.
- #003
Grand Theft Auto VI will be the first Grand Theft Auto game with a story not written by series creator Dan Houser, who left Rockstar Games in March 2020.
- #004
On September 17, 2022, the ninth anniversary of Grand Theft Auto V's (2013) premiere, a large leak of an unfinished build of the game was posted online.
- #005
Lucia is the first playable female protagonist with a voice role in the Grand Theft Auto series.
- #006
On November 8, 2023, Rockstar confirmed that the Grand Theft Auto VI trailer would be released in early December. On December 1, Rockstar announced that the trailer's date and time would be December 5, 2023, at 9:00 ET. However, the trailer had already been leaked on X (formerly Twitter) 14 hours earlier with a "buy crypto" watermark. Although Rockstar and its parent company Take-Two Interactive managed to remove the leak, the damage was done, prompting Rockstar Games to release the trailer earlier than planned. To prevent a leak of Trailer 2, Rockstar released the next trailer without any warning.
- #007
Unlike the 3D universe of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006), this game, set in the HD era and returning to Vice City, takes place in the fictional state of Leonida, named after Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. León led the first European expedition to the Florida peninsula, on which the game's main setting is based.
- #008
A year after the release of the first Grand Theft Auto VI trailer, fans began spreading the "Grand Theft Auto VI Moon Theory," a fan-driven idea suggesting that Rockstar Games was signaling upcoming announcements through the phases of the moon depicted in Grand Theft Auto Online (2013). According to the theory, subtle changes in the moon's phase or position were believed to contain hidden clues about the game's premiere date or the timing of the next trailer. Although Rockstar never confirmed the theory, it became a popular part of community speculation. Fans notably pointed out that in earlier promotional images the characters appeared under a waning gibbous moon, a detail that matched the moon phase on the first trailer's actual premiere date, deepening the theory's mystery.
- #009
After Rockstar Games confirmed the premiere date of the first Grand Theft Auto VI trailer, a number of game studios posted fake trailer/update announcements on X with styles, color schemes and release dates nearly identical to the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI announcement. These included Mediatonic's Fall Guys, 343 Industries' Halo and Raven Software's Call of Duty.
- #010
There are various forward- and backward-looking associations regarding how the developers assess what GTA Vice City was influenced by and what it looked like, and what ideas a future Vice City would bring along with its development process: In 2012, then-former Rockstar producer Leslie Benzies stated that the reason the Miami idea was chosen as a setting in the 2002 game was Sam Houser's fondness for the Miami Vice TV series; Benzies also stated that he wanted it to be an ambitious new game and to revisit the Vice City setting. In 2012, current art designer and producer Aaron Garbut repeated Benzies' story about Sam Houser's Miami Vice idea, confirming that Miami would be the next GTA city setting and adding that the film inspirations were Carlito's Way (1993) and Scarface (1983). Garbut went on to share that at the time their only changes to the game would be expanding what was shown in the Florida Everglades as well as expanding beyond the mapped city surroundings. In a previous GTA V segment, Garbut also noted how he detailed the close use of lightning in the game's production to match the daily sunlight beam around Los Angeles and to get the best the hardware could handle. All three would come true, as the later GTA VI trailer showed across every area of the game's geography. In the same year, 2012, Sam Houser said that Scarface, set in Miami Beach, was his favorite film from childhood and that the original GTA Vice City was influenced by Miami Vice overall, but that the story was influenced by Scarface. He also commented on how Michael Mann was not only his favorite industry producer but also how Miami Vice's contributions would work, such as consistent episode length, an adult-oriented risqué approach, montages composed with music (something he would later comment about wanting to copy in a future game) and its selected soundtrack list. He further noted his admiration for the variety of the series' components, from color and lighting, including at night, to TV episodes structured as missions and weapons, to consulting with weapons experts in advance for the GTA Vice City setup production, and to the array of boat, car and helicopter vehicles. Houser, who included "Miami" and Scarface references in the first GTA III game, also stated that even after finishing the game he would watch Miami Vice the following year, which coincided with the next year of GTA Vice City. During the 2002 setup, Garbut also visited Miami and watched the series to model similar lighting for the series. Since all of this is historical context that Houser hoped would meet high expectations in 2002, as well as the modern context Sam Houser explained in 2023, the GTA VI game will once again push the boundaries of possibility, being "deeply immersive, story-driven open-world experiences" and "a new vision." This also parallels GTA VI's development and production costs being tracked at $2 billion, a figure that surpasses the previous GTA V's 3-day sales figure. With Houser and Garbut's comments taken into account and considered, the newly designed game also appears to reference a larger presence of Florida cities this time; Vice City's outlying community is framed after Port Gellhorn (identified in the trailer as a city and police department), Panama City and also Port Charlotte, with the whole South Florida image kept in mind for the game itself. At the same time, this is the first time a Vice City-based game will include a real-life community named after a specific person, such as journalist Martha Gellhorn, who reported on World War II conflicts and the invasion of Panama while in Panama City, Panama. The rediscovered Vice City also features new architecture, infrastructure and landmarks modeled on the culturally dense Miami and its neighborhoods.
- #011
Many organizations and landmarks in the Miami area appear to have been recreated in the game: * The Downtown Miami club E11ven, redesigned as "Nine1Nine." * A hotel modeled on the Royal Palm Hotel (its name is not yet determined in the game). * Twin apartment towers based on 500 Brickell Condos. * The Wynwood neighborhood, featuring a pastel-colored building reminiscent of Baker Zak in Miami. * A mural of eyes inspired by Cuban-American artist Ahol Sniffs Glue. * A multi-lane bridge resembling the Venetian Causeway. * Bridge-linked islands modeled on the Rickenbacker Causeway, Key Biscayne and Virginia Key. * A westbound downtown expressway based on the MacArthur Causeway, with skyscrapers, one of which resembles the Marquis Building. * The in-game Catalan Boulevard, modeled on Biscayne Boulevard. * A nightclub interior resembling Club Space in Downtown Miami. * A penthouse silhouette view similar to Miami's Blue and Green Diamond towers and Murano Grande.
- #012
In the December 2023 trailer, the iconic Ocean View Hotel from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) returns with the same neon pink lettering as in the first game and a palm-lined beachfront. This time it appears next to the clearly visible Hotel Victor, the real-life South Beach, Miami hotel that inspired the in-game Hotel Dixon.
- #013
In February 2024, Anita Ward's verified Spotify page briefly displayed the Grand Theft Auto VI logo and color scheme. She stated she had no idea how this happened and later clarified that she was not involved in any current negotiations regarding the game and that the change was not intended to suggest she would appear in it.
- #014
The following events in the game are also modeled after real-life events: * A group of ATV and dirt bike riders traveling together along an entire street on city roads, with some performing wheelies, similar to a February 2023 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day when these individuals filled the streets, resulting in the seizure of a firearm, the driver's arrest and the vehicle being impounded * The Dine and Dash overturned vehicle incident is also modeled after this particular contemporary example. A new violent approach to the incident is included, as some ended that way in real life too * The naked man chased by police is also closely modeled after an October 2022 incident in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, in which police tried to stop a man who had recently stabbed someone as he passed in front of a gas station; both resemble a man with an overweight body frame * An alligator actually caused a series of Walmart automatic doors to open in Apopka, Florida, in 2013, similar to the scene that stands out in the trailer.
- #015
The 2023 trailer presents various in-game organizations and products combined with various Florida references: * The Atlantis Hotel on the cover image in the street background is modeled on the Miami Beach Star Lite Hotel on Ocean Drive, a Scarface (1983) filming location (appearing in the film as the Sun Ray Apartments, a recurring GTA influence element), and it is noted how the development captured every detail, from the realistic street and architecture to its neighbors and building replicas and the surrounding palm trees * Uncle Jack's Liquor is a liquor store, as stated, and the store's display window contains previously carried-over GTA products such as Logger and Pißwasser beer and eCola soda, as well as Pindayho beer (a Corona parody based on the visible crown, also Spanish for a foolish person) and Zesta soda (an obvious Fanta parody), both new to the universe * This liquor store is also modeled on the South Florida liquor store chain Flanigan's * The market stores also offer GoPostal courier services, as in GTA V * The Thrill Hillbilly Mud Club is modeled on the Redneck Mud Club in the town of Punta Gorda in the Fort Myers, Florida area * and the trailer's music is by Tom Petty, a Gainesville, Florida native, also commemorated with a liquor store sticker reading "Petty Forever." The Vice City retail shoe store We Have Shoes (WHS), inspired by Miami, Florida, promotes the brands Hinterland, Rearwall and Lobon on billboards in the game (trailer screen), all with their logos.
- #016
The September 2022 network intrusion leaks revealed a waffle restaurant robbery with a notable hidden reference: an animated lighthouse framed photo on the wall, compared to the Gordo Mountain lighthouse on the coast, and a view suggesting an ocean perspective from a cliff stairwell.
- #017
The September 2022 network intrusion also revealed dialogue in which a WhatsApp parody is referred to as "WhatUp" and a "message received" notification appears. It was noted that these network intrusion file events were the result of videos added to QA tester bug reports explaining the varying development stages shown, along with continuous script logs.
- #018
On May 2, 2025, after a long delay, the company announced that the game would be released on May 26, 2026, and had Obbe Vermeij, a leading developer of the 1990s-2000s, comment on how it relates to the 2008 game IV and the first 2007 version before the final 2008 release. He also stated that, as in the previous release, the announcement included a trailer showing only a desired portion of the overall release, along with fixes for timing-level errors, optimization and correction changes and other related matters, as well as the series' atmospheric development. In his ongoing comments on the matter, he also stated that the trailer coincided with compensating for the delay in the release and that the final premiere date was a confident step, since it would probably be the last announcement.
- #019
In 2024, a remastered version of Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) was announced for release ahead of Grand Theft Auto VI, but it was ultimately suspended indefinitely — though not permanently — and is now said to be in development for a 2025 release.
- #020
In September 2024, Martyn Ware of the British pop group Heaven 17 revealed that he and the group were offered $7,500 to license the song "Temptation" to the company for use in the game; the group ultimately turned it down, arguing the money was not a satisfactory amount for such an extended request, and preferred $75,000 instead. The company rejected that offer, and the group linked this to a better outcome, since the initial offer amounted to a licensing cost of only $1,000 per group member.
- #021
Given that the game's Miami influences also include Panama City Beach, Florida, Grand Theft Auto IV had mentioned Panama and Panama City twice in separate media events: first, Science of Crime TV having several spin-off series, among them Panama City (also a reference to a Vice City spin-off), and second, the IV TLAD mission "Off Route," in which Thomas Stubbs says the released prisoners will travel to Panama and the US city takes its name from the country.
- #022
As with the above, there would also be continuing Florida history references sharing the same 20th-century Florida state government observations: in IV, Bohan's Valdez street refers to Pedro de Valdéz, a 16th-century Spanish-commissioned explorer and later Governor of Cuba from 1600 to 1607, who was meanwhile directed on a new commission to explore the future territory of the US state of Florida along with other participants, including his son. Before his governorship, he had led the Spanish Armada in 1588 as a Spanish Navy admiral and was captured by Francis Drake when two Spanish ships collided with Drake and he was taken prisoner to Queen Elizabeth I. In the Algonquin neighborhood of East Holland, and realistically among numerous Dutch historical references and Dutch cities, there would also be a Florida reference to the 1941-1945 Governor and 1946-1971 US Senator. A lifelong Florida native later known for the Melbourne Beach golf course and schools named after him, Spessard Holland introduced the 24th Amendment, which eliminated poll taxes for voting in federal elections.
- #023
Reports say Grand Theft Auto VI will break sales records, earning $1 billion from pre-orders alone and roughly $3 billion in its first year.
- #024
The upcoming game's 2023 trailer nods to the return of a vehicle resembling the Bravado Gauntlet Hellfire from Grand Theft Auto Online (2013), which is based on the Dodge Challenger. A law enforcement variant influenced by the Dodge Charger Hellfire also appears. Interestingly, this return coincides with the real-world retirement of both the Challenger and Charger models in 2023. The trailer also showcases a Granger 3600 modeled after the 2015-generation Chevrolet Tahoe. However, a newer 2021 generation of the Tahoe exists, making the in-game version a nod to the previous design seen in Grand Theft Auto V (2013).
- #025
Although the first 2023 trailer was scheduled to be released on the day it was set for, it surfaced a day earlier through a leak tied to a YouTube-based employee scandal, resulting in an uncomfortable surprise as many Rockstar Games graphics and VFX artists drew attention in statements. In addition, the company intended to publish the content but was derailed by a journalist's statement hours ahead of schedule, which created new challenges. Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick would later comment that there was no long-term damage from it happening, considering it to mean attention overall.
- #026
In Grand Theft Auto IV (2008), the Pavano Crime Family (featured in the missions Pegorino's Pride and Payback) shares its name with MLB pitcher Carl Pavano, who played for the New York Yankees during the game's development and had previously been with the Miami Marlins, linking to GTA's Vice City setting. The May 2026 trailer (also known as Trailer 2) also shows a character wearing a teal "Manatees" jersey resembling the Miami Dolphins' colors and echoing the Miami Marlins' crescent logo.
- #027
Liberty City (initially, though rarely, called Model City) is also a Miami neighborhood, stemming from FDR's 1930s presidential era and from the area considered the city's dangerous Liberty Square mile. In 2015, the Miami-Dade County government would launch the multi-million-dollar revitalization initiative Liberty City Rising to revive the area. By a strange coincidence, the May 6, 2025 trailer also reintroduces the oil company Xero in a garage product placement and another gas station first introduced in 2008's Liberty City.
- #028
The May 6, 2025 trailer also draws attention to a character wearing a New Era parody sports cap bearing a visible team logo, a further nod to the New Era cap company — specifically to its German immigrant founder, Erhardt Koch, whose company adopted its new name in 1922 from the previously self-named E. Koch Company, and which itself would become MLB's on-field exclusive cap supplier in 1993. This came years after starting with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians (the latter two referenced as recurring geography in IV) and Detroit Tigers. The company would also continue expanding its New York presence with its Derby, Erie County manufacturing facility, and founder Koch, who after his death in 1953 would be buried in Buffalo. Simply put, in this May 6, 2025 trailer, appropriately placed Bravado Buffalo police vehicles would reappear, as they have since 2008's Liberty City.
- #029
Brown Place street, bounded by Emerald and Feldspar streets, never had a distinctly specific naming origin, including 1917-1920 Albany, New York State Senator Adon P. Brown (who would die in Tampa, Florida) — a city consistently associated with this later name as part of the whole South Florida region. By another strange coincidence, IV-era Emerald and Feldspar streets would not only accompany the other parallel streets Barium, Calcium and Pyrite, but the minerals barite, calcite and pyrite (the last composed of iron, another parallel street) are among the rocks mined in Florida, a state where the quarry Bone Valley is in Central Florida. The state also includes zircon among the mineral varieties sought by the mining industry, and this shares both 2008 and 2013 with the neighboring IV-era Zirconium Building skyscraper, which features the car manufacturer of the same name and the Honda Accord Wagon-modeled Stratum.
- #030
Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) introduced numerous references to adult entertainment, including magazines and accessories. Playboy Playmate Kimberly Holland (Miss October 2004 during the game's development) was among the models featured in related media. The new game's later trailers continue this theme, showing strip clubs with banners advertising "Seduction Saturdays" and "Sinful Sundays."
- #031
The trailer features Phil's Ammu-Nation, referencing both the character Phil Cassidy (Grand Theft Auto III (2001), Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006)) and the Ammu-Nation chain seen throughout the series. Its design also recalls The Serrated Edge, the parody shopping channel of Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) hosted by Luther Austin and Estell Graham. Despite being set in Liberty City, both hosts spoke with Southern accents. Austin was later given an LCPD profile and even a Vinewood Walk of Fame star in Grand Theft Auto V (2013).
- #032
Trailer 2 includes a safe heist scene and a chase scene reminiscent of a scene from the film Fast Five (2011), including a similar location and matching vehicles (the film's Dodge Charger and the game's Dodge Ram 3500 Dually, which also appeared in Trailer 1).
- #033
A scene in the game's Trailer 2 shows Jason descending a ladder with smooth animation, an advance over the basic climbing mechanics first seen in Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) and later improved in Grand Theft Auto V (2013). This continues the series' tendency to display noticeable graphical and animation improvements between trailers and final releases.
- #034
Budweiser, owned by Anheuser-Busch, is parodied in the game as "Büdwieser." In the first trailer, beer scenes appear following Wang Chung's "Everybody Have Fun Tonight," a nod to the brand's 1980s sponsorship of the group. The song first appeared on the 1986 album Mosaic; that name also appeared on several buildings on Miami Beach and echoed in local mosaic murals created between 2020 and 2021.
- #035
As seen in the release, screenshots and trailers, the game features license plates referencing Georgia's parody state "Gloriana" and realistic details resembling both Florida and Georgia.
- #036
In Grand Theft Auto IV (2008), on Lazlow's in-game radio show Integrity 2.0, the character Jorge was first described as Honduran, then changed to Nicaraguan and Peruvian. This ties to the historical explorer Hernando de Soto, who traveled through these regions and landed in Florida in May 1539 — coincidentally close to Grand Theft Auto VI's 26 May 2026 premiere date.
- #037
Algonquin's East Holland neighborhood in Grand Theft Auto IV (2008), named after the real Dutch city and reflecting numerous Dutch historical influences, may also subtly reference Florida's political history. In particular, it parallels former Florida Governor (1941–1945) and lifelong Florida native U.S. Senator (1946–1971) Spessard Holland. Holland, who governed during the era of segregation, is remembered for introducing the 24th Amendment, which abolished poll taxes in federal elections. In related historical context, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was founded in 1909; the Brevard County chapter was founded in 1934 and the Miami-Dade chapter in 1988, a period also reflected in the 1980s influences seen in the 2023 and 2025 Grand Theft Auto VI trailers. Florida's first NAACP State Conference took place in 1941, while Spessard Holland was serving as governor.
- #038
Given that the 2023 trailer (trailer 1) revealed the return of Dodge-inspired vehicles as seen in earlier HD Universe games, it also contained a subtle nod to previous games. Both Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) and Grand Theft Auto V (2013) included items and locations tied to the name "Elgin," from weapons such as the .357 Remington and suppressed pistols to Grand Theft Auto V's Downtown Los Santos street "Elgin Avenue," and to Horace Elgin Dodge, co-founder of the Dodge Brothers Company, who died in 1920 in Palm Beach, South Florida (part of Miami, the city that inspired Grand Theft Auto VI). These vehicles also reflect the influence of Detroit-based DaimlerChrysler, which appeared in GTA IV with Chrysler and Dodge models and later in Grand Theft Auto V with Jeep-inspired Canis vehicles. Many of these in-game brands, including the Florida Indian tribe the Seminole, share their name origins with real-life vehicles. In gameplay terms, drive-by shooting and vehicle handling mechanics improved with each installment, from the spinning-car AI of the 2008 title to the advanced animations and graphics of 2013, culminating in Grand Theft Auto VI's new 360-degree body movement system.
- #039
The trailer shows vehicles returning from earlier games, including the Grand Theft Auto V (2013)-era Declasse Rancher in its open flatbed design, which was not seen in Grand Theft Auto V (2013), where only the closed Rancher XL was introduced. A car resembling the 2008 Benefactor Schafter also appears.
- #040
In the May 2025 trailer, Jason's car, the Tulip, appears with a passenger door in a different color from the rest of the vehicle. This detail recalls the San Andreas-era Clover, which often had mismatched color panels, fitting the "flower" theme both car names share.
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