We're just hours away from the GTA 6 trailer release, which should give us a fantastic look at what GTA 6 - or whatever the Untitled Grand Theft Auto game is actually called - will actually entail. The first GTA 6 trailer is dropping on Tuesday, December 5 at 6AM PT / 9AM ET / 2PM GMT as was announced via Rockstar Games' Twitter/X on Friday.
This is the first official look we'll be getting of the game since it was first announced that Rockstar is working on the next installment of the GTA series. So ahead of that, let's take a look at what we know so far shall we?
So let's start with our predictions shall we? Resident GTA expert Joe Donnelly has written what I think will be some pretty spot on theories about the trailer itself and what we should see.
You can read the full article here: GTA 6 trailer predictions: Everything we hope to see on December 5
Now obviously Rockstar has a history of making really good debut trailers. I mean, how engrained in your memory is hearing this opening to the very first GTA 5 trailer?
Again, Joe hit the nail on the head again when he called out the developer saying "No pressure with GTA 6 Rockstar, but GTA 4 and GTA 5 had two of the best reveal trailers of all time".
Here's the first GTA 4 trailer for reference -
Interestingly, there's quite a different approach between the GTA 4 and GTA 5 first trailers. They're both clearly offering up the setting - GTA 4 with its take on New York, and GTA 5 with its version of Los Angeles - but with the GTA 5 trailer we get a much better look at the life within that city. There's a brief look at Michael, but not really establishing him as a main character - and there's not even a glimpse at Trevor or Franklin at this stage.
"While it's not totally out of the question that Rockstar puffs out its proverbial chest and drops a solitary GTA 6 logo and a release date, I suspect the developer will go big here. In the face of last year's unprecedented leaks (and whatever those shorts that appeared over the weekend are; would-be players are torn on their veracity), restoring the company's signature swagger seems important at this juncture, and a blockbuster reveal trailer that blows us away feels like the easiest way of doing so. I don't think we'll see too much, granted – history would suggest something in the vicinity of a 90-second runtime seems fair – but what we will get, I reckon, is another of Rockstar's 'concept' trailers, where everything on display is in-game and in-engine footage. As always, a banging backing track will likewise set the tone and underpin whatever features on-screen." - Joe Donnelly
The shorts that Joe refers to there are the TikTok 'leaks' that occurred over the weekend. They were two off-screen videos that claimed to show the GTA 6 map, but after these GTA 6 leak rumors gathered momentum, fans now think they've been pranked thanks to a post on Reddit.
Fans are hungry folks (and us too).
"Red Dead Redemption 2's debut trailer teased John Marston's return and a prequel setting, but stopped just short of actually confirming it. GTA 6 could pull a similar trick with the expected setting of Vice City." - Hirun Cryer, News Writer
Now, while I think Hirun has a point there, I've not stopped looking at this one single image we've had from Rockstar about the GTA 6 trailer.
Let's break it down a little bit in a slightly tinfoil hat kind of way.
Starting with the palm trees. Now, if that doesn't scream Vice City - aka the rumored setting for GTA 6 - I don't know what does.
Of course, there are palm trees synonymous with other areas of America, like Los Santos or Los Angeles of GTA 5 fame, but there's something about the colour palette that suggests it will be set in Vice City, or the fictionalized version of Miami.
If you look at the palm trees and color palette from GTA Vice City back in the day, the comparisons are pretty easy to draw. Although you could argue that this slightly more muted pastel take is a slightly more modern, mature take on the more lurid neon of the 80s-set Vice City.
That shift in palette could also point to fact it's set in the present day too of course.
Then there's the three birds on the trailer 'poster'. Now, bear with me here because this is prime tin foil hat territory, but could those birds reflect the protagonists?
The rumor is that there are two playable characters - a man and a woman allegedly named Jason and Lucile - rather than the three protagonists of GTA 5, but with a similar person-switching mechanic.
The fact that the third bird is smaller could suggest these two heroes actually share a child together? (Told you I'd gone full tin hat). I kinda love the idea of making the two characters parents to make them more sympathetic criminals, as it's hard to feel much compassion for the kind of things we're capable of doing in GTA otherwise.
Of course, they could also just be birds and I'm getting ahead of myself.
However, I do think having more parent figures in games - particularly mothers - wouldn't be a bad thing.
Ho boy the link is here ready for tomorrow. According to metadata it's 91 seconds long
As GTA 6 community notes on Twitter, that's the longest first trailer Rockstar has done for quite some time.
Lengths of Rockstar's first trailers: GTA 4: 1:02 (62 seconds) GTA 5: 1:24 (84 seconds) RDR2: 1:08 (68 seconds) GTA 6: 1:31 (91 seconds) pic.twitter.com/yS9JW63XfVDecember 4, 2023
Now's probably a great time to showcase Joe's interview with one of the creators who made the GTA 4 first trailer happen.
More trailer thoughts from our GTA experts on team, and next up we've got Iain Wilson, Guides Editor -
"Rockstar is the undisputed master of the big reveal, which it's honed to a fine art over the years. If we think back to 2011 (gulp) and the first GTA 5 reveal trailer then we should get a good idea of what to expect – a voice over from one of the main protagonists setting the overall vibe, panning shots of the setting without too many specifics (it’s not likely we’ll see a “Welcome to Vice City” sign just yet), and enough small hints of information to keep fans poring over every frame for weeks to come. Little details picked out from that first GTA 5 reveal included dogs, convertibles with fully-functioning retractable roofs, yoga, heists, and more, and I can’t wait to see what nuggets people are able to extract when the much-anticipated GTA 6 reveal trailer drops."
Just 42k people and counting sitting waiting for the GTA 6 trailer that's still some 22 hours away....
It shouldn't really come as a surprise though - the GTA community is a passionate (and patient) one.
Joe spoke to many members of the GTA community after the confirmation that a trailer was indeed coming, and the excitement was palpable throughout.
"It's certainly the culmination of anticipation for VI," says prominent GTA community member Tez. "The community was expecting it last year, but that didn't happen. Then again earlier this year with another February announcement, but that didn't happen either. Then we expected it in September as Rockstar celebrated the decade-long anniversary of GTA 5, but nothing."
So many had actually labelled October 'Rocktober' because Rockstar has always made announcements in that month. But obviously it's been a little wait since.
"Waiting for release day is going to be tough, but I look forward to the discussion and speculation in the months ahead. However long we may have to wait, Rockstar has become known for the excellent quality of their releases, and I trust that they will deliver on our expectations once again when the time finally comes," says GTANet colleague and GTA Chain Game chief GTAKid.
