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Rockstar Games has debuted the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI, revealing it will feature the series’ first female main character and will return to a familiar setting. The trailer was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but was officially published on Tuesday, moments after it leaked on social media.

When is GTA VI coming out?

So far we only have the year to go off: 2025. But since all previous games in the series have released in the fourth quarter of their respective years, it’s reasonable to assume the game is a full two years away.

While there was a new GTA every two years for the first five entries, games have expanded significantly in scope, fidelity and budget since then, and it’s not uncommon for blockbusters to take eight years or more to be developed. Since Grand Theft Auto V, Rockstar also developed Red Dead Redemption 2, which released in 2018.

Early footage of GTA VI was leaked online last year as part of a massive data breach (for which a British teen was eventually arrested), which led some to speculate the game was set for 2024, but it seems we have a bit longer to wait.

Why is GTA VI such a big deal?

New games in the open-world crime drama series have increasingly become significant cultural events ever since Grand Theft Auto III in 2001. As of midday, the new trailer had been viewed more than 4 million times on YouTube alone.

Grand Theft Auto V reportedly had a budget of around $US265 million ($400 million) and was originally released in 2013, but it has featured regularly in top-seller charts over the last decade thanks to versions for new platforms, and the popular GTA Online mode. It is currently the second-highest selling game of all time, at more than 190 million units sold. The number one game is Minecraft.

The games have seen more than their fair share of controversy over their depiction of sex, violence and drug use, but have also been critically acclaimed for their stories, expansive worlds and open-ended gameplay. Grand Theft Auto V was one of the first games to be rated R18+ in Australia after the option was introduced in 2013. Previous games in the series were censored here.

In which city is GTA VI set?

While the last game was inspired by Los Angeles and Hollywood, the GTA VI trailer unmistakably shows a return to Vice City, which has been featured in the games before and is based on Miami, Florida. Yet while 2002’s GTA: Vice City took place in the 1980s, this new take appears to be set in the modern day.

The trailer shows the inner city, suburban surrounds and more remote locations including wetlands which may be inspired by the Florida Everglades. It’s too early to say how expansive the game will be, but the playable area has a habit of expanding from game to game and reached around 80 square kilometres in GTA V.

Given that size, it’s not impossible that the game will feature additional areas or even other cities.

What other details does the GTA VI trailer reveal?

We see our protagonist (or at least one of our protagonists) Lucia in prison. We also see her committing a robbery with her male partner and involved in high-speed chase with police. Other than that, and the suggestion of a Bonny and Clyde style dynamic, there aren’t many details on her. However, the series has been consistently criticised for the portrayal of women in its games up to this point, so you could take Lucia’s existence as an indicator of a tonal shift there.

The trailer makes frequent use of TikTok-style video, which highlights some of the strange goings-on and suggests the game’s going heavy on the “Florida man” angle (at one point an alligator is seen entering a convenience store). But it could also indicate that the Scottish development team — which has a history of lampooning American culture — is zeroing in on influencers and online video trends in the same way it skewered tech bros last time around.

Other than that all the locations featured are to be expected in a GTA game. There are street races, strip clubs and a huge number of vehicles from boats and planes to trucks and hotrods. GTA: Vice City had a significant focus on music throughout the game, but we’re not given much to go off here on that front. The whole trailer is set to Love Is A Long Road by Tom Petty.

Will GTA VI have online?

Nothing has been officially confirmed, but it’s basically a sure bet. Even 10 years after release, GTA Online is estimated to make more than half a billion dollars every year, just from microtransactions.

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