Directly confirmed by an official source.
Guide · Overview · Quick read
New to Grand Theft Auto? What to know before VI
A short orientation for anyone arriving at Grand Theft Auto VI without having played the earlier games — built only from what Rockstar and Take-Two have published about their own series.
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Grand Theft Auto is Rockstar’s open-world crime series. The modern games began with Grand Theft Auto III in 2001; the last one, Grand Theft Auto V, came out in 2013. VI is a new story with new leads, and returns to a present-day Vice City.
Grand Theft Auto is Rockstar Games’ series of open-world crime games: large, detailed places you move through freely, and a story about people on the wrong side of the law. Grand Theft Auto VI is the first new mainline entry since Grand Theft Auto V.
The games that led here
- Grand Theft Auto III — 2001. Rockstar credits it with pioneering the open-world genre; that is the company’s own description.
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City — the game whose city VI returns to.
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- Grand Theft Auto IV
- Grand Theft Auto V — September 17, 2013. By December 2023 Take-Two put it at over 190 million units.
The order of the middle three is Rockstar’s own, from its press releases. Their years are left off deliberately: this site only prints dates that Rockstar or Take-Two publish, and neither states those three in the sources we cite.
Why Vice City again
Vice City is a returning name. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was released again, enhanced, in the 2021 Definitive Edition collection alongside Grand Theft Auto III and San Andreas. Grand Theft Auto VI is described by Rockstar as a return to a modern-day Vice City — the same name, set in the present, inside the wider state of Leonida.
What carries over, and what does not
- New leads: Jason and Lucia, rather than characters from an earlier game
- A new state, Leonida, of which Vice City is one part
- GTA Online, the online world that grew out of Grand Theft Auto V, is a separate product — Rockstar calls VI a single player experience
Common questions
Do I need to have played Grand Theft Auto V first?
Nothing Rockstar has published says so. Its synopsis for VI introduces new leads in a new state, and it does not tie the story to an earlier game.
Sources
- Rockstar Games Newswire — “Grand Theft Auto VI — Watch Trailer 2 Now”OfficialAccessed Sep 11, 2026
rockstargames.com/newswire/article/3928aaa9… (opens in a new tab)
Primary source. Published by the developer and publisher of the game.
- Rockstar Games — official Grand Theft Auto VI siteOfficialAccessed Oct 2, 2026
rockstargames.com/VI (opens in a new tab)
Primary source. Treated as authoritative for date, platforms and editions.
Is Grand Theft Auto VI a remake of Vice City?
No. Rockstar describes it as a return to a modern-day Vice City: a new game that shares the city’s name.
Sources
- Rockstar Games Newswire — “Grand Theft Auto VI is Now Set to Launch November 19, 2026”OfficialAccessed Sep 11, 2026
rockstargames.com/newswire/article/ak3ak31a… (opens in a new tab)
Primary source. Published by the developer and publisher of the game.
Sources
- Take-Two Interactive — “Rockstar Games Announces Grand Theft Auto VI, Coming 2025”OfficialAccessed Sep 13, 2026
take2games.com/ir/news/rockstar-games-annou… (opens in a new tab)
Primary source for what Rockstar and Take-Two say about their own series. Sales figures are sell-in units as of the release date, and "pioneered the open-world genre" is the company’s own claim.
- Take-Two Interactive — “Rockstar Games Releases Trailer 2 for Grand Theft Auto VI”OfficialAccessed Sep 13, 2026
take2games.com/ir/news/adding-multimedia-ro… (opens in a new tab)
Primary source. Sell-in units as of the release date.
- Rockstar Games Newswire — “Celebrate Ten Years of Grand Theft Auto V in GTA Online This Week”OfficialAccessed Sep 13, 2026
rockstargames.com/newswire/article/89718512… (opens in a new tab)
Primary source. The launch date is derived from the post’s own date and wording rather than stated outright.
- Rockstar Games Newswire — “Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition Coming November 11”OfficialAccessed Sep 13, 2026
rockstargames.com/newswire/article/4kaa7414… (opens in a new tab)
Primary source for the collection and its release. It does not give the original release years of the three games.
- Rockstar Games Newswire — “Grand Theft Auto VI is Now Set to Launch November 19, 2026”OfficialAccessed Sep 11, 2026
rockstargames.com/newswire/article/ak3ak31a… (opens in a new tab)
Primary source. Published by the developer and publisher of the game.
- Rockstar Games Newswire — “Grand Theft Auto VI — Watch Trailer 2 Now”OfficialAccessed Sep 11, 2026
rockstargames.com/newswire/article/3928aaa9… (opens in a new tab)
Primary source. Published by the developer and publisher of the game.
- Rockstar Games Newswire — “Pre-Order Grand Theft Auto VI on June 25”OfficialAccessed Sep 11, 2026
rockstargames.com/newswire/article/5171972o… (opens in a new tab)
Primary source. Does not state prices — those come from storefront listings and press coverage of the same announcement.
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