GTA VI Pre-Orders Open June 25 as Rockstar Readies Franchise's Biggest Launch Since 2013

On June 18, Rockstar Games set a date that millions of players have been waiting on for years: pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI will open on June 25. The studio made the announcement alongside the reveal of the game's official cover art, the latest step in a rollout for a title widely expected to be the biggest game of the decade.

The game itself is due out on November 19, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. That date came after two delays. GTA VI was originally targeted for late 2025, and was pushed back twice before settling on the current date. When it arrives, more than 13 years will have passed since the previous instalment.

That instalment, GTA V, came out in 2013 and set the commercial bar the new game must clear. Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar's parent company, has said it reached US$1bil (RM4.12bil) in retail sales faster than any entertainment release in history. By the company's most recent figures it has sold around 230 million copies, making it the second best-selling game of all time, behind Minecraft. The whole franchise has sold 470 million units. Even without a flagship release in over a decade, the series has kept earning, largely through GTA's online multiplayer version, where users spend money on in-game items.

The series began in 1997 with two games that offered a top-down view as players took the role of a criminal running missions around cities. GTA III in 2001 changed what games could look like, combining a three-dimensional open world, advanced graphics and gameplay that drew wide critical acclaim. Industry analysts and gamers have since praised each new title for pushing the medium's limits.

Success has come with controversy. Critics have accused the series from the start of glorifying violence and encouraging criminal behaviour, claims Take-Two executives have denied. The games have also been criticised for misogynistic portrayals of women, caricatures of ethnic minorities and depictions of torture, even as they have been praised for biting cultural satire. The violence has at times led to bans and restrictions in some countries. Target Australia stopped selling GTA V in 2014, citing customer concerns. The games carry a mature-audiences-only content rating, and Take-Two executives have said customers should be free to choose what they buy.

Still, GTA has become a cultural institution, spawning countless online memes and endless references to its scenes and dialogue. It has also drawn big names to its casts: Ray Liotta voiced Tommy Vercetti, the lead of 2002's GTA: Vice City. Samuel L. Jackson, Burt Reynolds, Phil Collins and Ricky Gervais have all made cameos, and a 2021 expansion for GTA V was centred on Dr Dre.

The road to the new game has been bumpy. Rockstar confirmed in 2022 that it was in development, and that September hackers stole and leaked gameplay footage in one of the biggest breaches in gaming history. The studio formally revealed GTA VI in December 2023. It is set in Leonida, a fictionalised Florida that includes a return to the Miami-inspired Vice City, and follows a criminal couple, Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos. Lucia is the first female protagonist in the series' main line.

One question remains open: price. Rockstar has not disclosed it and said it would come with pre-orders. Take-Two predicts record sales, and analysts have described the release as potentially the biggest entertainment launch ever. June 25 will show what the game costs, and the months after will test those predictions.