Rockstar was set to own the internet tomorrow as it debuted its first trailer for the long-awaited next chapter in the Grand Theft Auto series. The trailer is now live a day early, thanks to a leaker who posted the trailer on Twitter this afternoon.
Rockstar announced via its social channels last week that it would finally show the first look at its upcoming Grand Theft Auto game on December 5th. The posts went so viral that seemingly every major game company copied it to announce their own trailers coming down the pipeline, or to just join in on what was fast becoming a meme.
However, while tens of thousands of people waited on the official premiere post on the Rockstar YouTube, someone leaked the trailer itself on Twitter, which spread like wildfire. The account, which blasted a "BUY BTC" stamp on top of the trailer, was quickly shut down, but the damage was already done. As a result, Rockstar took the leak in stride, releasing their trailer a day early and asking players to "watch the real thing" on YouTube.
Our trailer has leaked so please watch the real thing on YouTube: https://t.co/T0QOBDHwBe
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) December 4, 2023
We saw an incredible look at what can now officially be called Grand Theft Auto VI, which takes place in Vice City. The trailer shows the fictionalized version of southern Florida in incredible fidelity, highlighting the advances Rockstar's internal game engine has taken, even since the release of Red Dead Redemption 2. The trailer itself isn't very long, only about 90 seconds or so, but it highlights many of the activities - from using a hovercraft Gator-style in a swamp and more, coming with this reimagined Vice City. The trailer also showed Vice City, which takes place in a parody version of Florida, as it looks through the lens of social media, including drunken antics, fishing gators out of pools, and more.
From the lighting, character models, crowd density, and more, it looks like a marked upgrade from Grand Theft Auto V, which will turn 12 years old when GTA VI is released in 2025. No announcement was made about launch platforms, but it history holds we'll see this hit console first, with PC to release at a later date.
Personally, as someone who has invested thousands of hours into GTA Online's over the last decade, I can't wait to hear about whether or not GTA VI will include one, and what it will look like. But, for now, there will be plenty of time to speculate as 2025 slowly approaches.
