After years of waiting and months of speculation after that trailer drop, we finally got our first real look at Grand Theft Auto VI.
Rockstar Games and Netflix teamed up to reveal 26 minutes of gameplay for the most anticipated game of the decade on Thursday. All the footage was captured on a PlayStation 5 and showed protagonists Jason and Lucia climbing the criminal ladder and enjoying their lives in Vice City.
If you missed the first look on Netflix – or aren’t a subscriber – Rockstar will be dropping the entire thing on their YouTube channel at 9 p.m. ET. But if you can’t wait to watch yourself, here’s what we saw and learned about GTA 6 from their extended first look.
Opening Pickup
The extended look opened with Jason and Lucia showing up to “pick up” something to be delivered. It’s in a rundown building filled with people. The player started as Jason and showed that they could start conversations and interact with NPCs much like the system used in Red Dead Redemption 2.
Most importantly from the opening moments: people will be able to pet dogs in Grand Theft Auto 6.
However, things go south quick and the pickup ends up getting busted by cops. The teaser then shifted to third-person shooting combat as the two pick up their bag and work their way out of the building. The cinematic death camera also makes its return in the game.
Jason and Lucia’s Apartment
The next look takes place in the couple’s apartment as the two get ready for a night out. While Lucia gets changed, Jason wanders around the apartment to burn time. He is able to rush his girlfriend if he wants, grab a drink from the fridge and even watch a number of shows that range from nature channels to animated episodes.
They take off and the game shows off its driving for the first time. The traffic density is an immediate upgrade as the two begin driving through Vice City. A compilation then plays of the two driving through the city, snaking outside gas stations, catching NPCs trying to steal their cars, backyard wrestling, and holding people up with guns of their own.
Stick Up
If robbing gas stations, convenience stores and the like was your cup of tea in GTA 5, then good news. Lucia and Jason are looking to do plenty of that in the new game. No convenience store register in Vice City looks safe.
Decisions, Decisions
Much of the gameplay saw Jason and Lucia together, but at the dinner the two attend, they split up for a bit. The two talk about their recent troubles with the law – they seemed to be caught and working on some sort of deal before escaping – and choose to keep it on the down low for now after being worried about being sold out.
A getaway scene also seemed to show that players will be able to flow between Jason and Lucia at any given moment. At one point, they were playing as Jason hanging out the back of the car and shooting at their pursuers and the next they were handling the driving as Lucia.
The switching between the two characters also appeared much more seamless than GTA 5.
Downtime
It’s not all crime, though. A new montage showed the two playing basketball, swimming, driving fanboats and jetskis, working out, kayaking and going out with friends.
Strips clubs are making a comeback, but there also seemed to be a NASCAR-adjacent racing sim happening. Lucia even at one point found an influencer hiding in the trunk of the car she stole and he harried her as she made an escape from the police – all while livestreaming.
There was also some shooting galleries, base jumping, nightclubs and more.
Ending
The last few minutes of the first look showed the pair at a big gathering posing as security for a mover and shaker in a high rise. The pair got separated and Jason ended up trying to get a developer to come down while Lucia stayed with the people they came with but had her gun taken away. Both scenes were cut between until a third party group shows up with guns and starts shooting the place up.
Jason fights back up in the unfinished part of the skyscraper while Lucia is down in the party. The two are texting back and forth as the scenes continue to switch between the two during gameplay as they work to get themselves out of the situation.
Jason seemed to have a slowdown ability that highlighted vulnerable areas to shoot. Lucia had a QTE that helped her take off her high heels and jam them into a person that had tackled her to the ground.
When and Where
Grand Theft Auto 6 is just around the corner and the story is primed and ready to be jumped into. (And was that Stephen Root we heard?)
“Vice City, USA. Jason and Lucia have always known the deck is stacked against them,” the game’s logline reads. “But when an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a criminal conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida — forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive.”
GTA 6 was formally announced in February 2022 as the sequel to 2013’s GTA 5, but has since been delayed twice. The original Grand Theft Auto was released in 1997, created by David Jones and Mike Dailly.
