GTA VI Pre-Orders Open June 25

Grand Theft Auto VI

Published 18 June 2026 · CHEEVO

After years of leaks, rumours, and one of the most-watched trailers in internet history, Rockstar Games has made it official. Grand Theft Auto VI will launch on 19 November 2026, and pre-orders open on 25 June 2026 across digital storefronts and select retailers. Alongside the announcement, Rockstar dropped the official cover art and the internet lost its mind.

What do we know?

Pre-orders will go live on the PlayStation Store and Microsoft Store on 25 June, with physical and retail options also available through select partners. If you want to be first in line, you can add GTA VI to your wishlist right now on either storefront to get notified the moment pre-orders open.

The cover art itself is unmistakably Rockstar. Sun-drenched, cinematic, and soaked in the neon and heat of Leonida — the game's fictionalised Florida setting. Why not watch the trailer?

Why is the rest of the gaming industry clearing the calendar?

Nobody in their right mind wants to launch a game in November 2026. In the weeks since Rockstar confirmed the release date, publishers large and small have been quietly shuffling their own windows into early 2027, choosing to breathe rather than compete for attention against one of the most anticipated games ever made.

It happened in 2013 too. When GTA V launched on Xbox 360 and PS3, the surrounding months on the release calendar were conspicuously light. Releasing anything without an enormous marketing budget and a near-perfect product in the shadow of a Rockstar launch is, commercially speaking, an act of self-sabotage. November 2026 is shaping up to be the GTA VI show with everything else shuffling elsewhere.

Why are fans already booking time off work?

Across Reddit, Twitter, and Discord servers worldwide, the conversation has already turned into gameplay. Thousands of players aren't just thinking about pre-ordering, they're planning their diaries around 19 November. Threads packed with 'annual leave already booked' and 'my manager doesn't know it yet, but I'm not coming in' have been posted.

For the generation that grew up with GTA V, which launched in 2013 and somehow never stopped being relevant, this is a big deal. Some of these players were teenagers when they first drove through Los Santos. They'll be in their late twenties or early thirties when they step into Vice City for the first time all over again. Yep, we're old.

Let's remind ourselves of the GTA VI Trailer 2 which was released over a year ago!

How did we get here? The Grand Theft Auto story, from 1997 to now

To understand why GTA VI feels like a cultural event rather than just a game release, it helps to look back at how the series became what it is.

Grand Theft Auto (1997)

The original GTA was a top-down, bird's-eye-view sandbox built by DMA Design in Dundee. Controversial and anarchic, it introduced the core idea that would define everything that followed: an open city, your car, and no rules.

Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999)

GTA 2 moved the series to a neon-lit near-future city with gang mechanics that rewarded loyalty and punished betrayal. It was the last time the franchise would stay in two dimensions.

Grand Theft Auto III (2001)

Released on PlayStation 2, GTA III moved the series into a fully realised 3D Liberty City, modelled on New York, with cinematic storytelling and open-world freedom.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)

Vice City took the GTA III engine to a 1980s Miami, wrapping it in pastel suits, synth-pop, and Tommy Vercetti. The atmosphere was so vivid it didn't feel like a game.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)

San Andreas pushed further than anything before it: a vast map spanning three cities, a deeper character arc following CJ through gang politics and personal redemption, and mechanics such as diet, fitness, and relationships, that made the world feel genuinely alive.

Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)

GTA IV arrived on Xbox 360 and PS3 with a harder, grittier tone. Niko Bellic's story. A man escaping his past only to find it followed him everywhere was mature, cinematic, and emotionally grounded. Its multiplayer developed options for the future.

Grand Theft Auto V (2013)

GTA V launched with three playable protagonists, a map that dwarfed San Andreas. Then GTA Online, which quietly became one of the most profitable entertainment products in history. Re-released on PS4 and Xbox One in 2014, and again on PS5 and Xbox Series X in 2022. GTA V never stopped selling.

Grand Theft Auto VI (19 November 2026)

Set in Leonida, a fictionalised Florida anchored by a returning Vice City, GTA VI introduces two protagonists, Jason and Lucia, and a world built on thirteen years of blood, sweat and (likely) tears. It is the sequel to the biggest game ever made. Pre-orders open 25 June 2026.

What should you know before pre-orders open on June 25?

Pre-orders go live on 25 June across digital storefronts — PlayStation Store and Microsoft Store confirmed, with select physical retailers also in the mix. Adding GTA VI to your wishlist now on either platform will get you notified the moment orders are live.

The release date of 19 November wasn't chosen by accident. It's the sweet spot of the pre-Christmas window to maximise the audience, visibility, and impact.

Thirteen years is a long time in any medium. In gaming, we've waited too long already. Hardware has cycled twice and player expectations have been reshaped by games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Elden Ring. The November 19 is circled on millions of calendars. The day-off requests are going in. And Rockstar, as ever, is about to remind everyone exactly why they became the biggest studio on the planet.