GTA VI lands November 19: what to know before you lose a month to Leonida

Grand Theft Auto V came out in 2013. If you had a toddler then, that kid can now drive. Rockstar's follow-up, Grand Theft Auto VI, is finally set for Thursday, November 19, 2026, and after two delays the date has held through every Take-Two earnings call this year.

Here's the short version for people with jobs, kids and roughly 40 minutes of gaming time a night.

The date is real this time

The game was first aimed at 2025, then slid to May 2026, then to November. Rumors of a third delay keep popping up, and Take-Two keeps swatting them down. On its August 7 earnings call the company reaffirmed November 19, and CEO Strauss Zelnick called pre-order demand "unprecedented and astonishing." No pre-order numbers were shared, so take the adjectives for what they are.

What it costs

• Standard Edition: $79.99
• Ultimate Edition: $99.99, adding extra vehicles, weapons, clothing and other in-game items
• Pre-order bonus: the Vintage Vice City Pack, for anyone who buys before November 20

Yes, that's $10 over the old $70 ceiling. Rockstar is betting you won't blink, and history says most of you won't.

Platforms: consoles only, for now

At launch it's PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. No PS4, no Xbox One, and no announced PC version. Zelnick has said Take-Two's hits tend to reach every platform eventually, but Rockstar hasn't promised anything. For context, GTA V took about 19 months to hit PC. If you're a PC-only player, don't hold your breath, and don't trust anyone selling you a PC date.

Where and who

The game returns to Vice City, now part of a fictional Florida stand-in called Leonida. For the first time in a mainline GTA, the story centers on a pair: Lucia Caminos and Jason Duval, a criminal couple. Rockstar's 26-minute extended look, which premiered on Netflix in late August, showed the two of them splitting jobs, a dodge move in fistfights, a slow-motion aiming trick borrowed from Red Dead Redemption 2, and a long list of side activities: scuba diving, jet skis, skydiving, pickup basketball and more.

If you grew up on the original Vice City's neon and synth, the setting alone is the hook. If you grew up in actual Florida, you already know the jokes will write themselves.

Plan your launch week

• Digital preloads start November 12, a week early.
• Physical copies include a download code and also go out starting November 12 so disc buyers can preload too.

And GTA Online isn't going anywhere. Zelnick has said it stays up after the new game ships, so your old crew can keep doing whatever it is they've been doing in there since 2013.

The bottom line

This is the biggest game launch of the year by a mile, and nothing Rockstar has shown suggests it's coasting. Just remember nobody outside Rockstar has played the finished thing yet. Wait for reviews if $80 stings, but if you've been waiting a decade-plus for Vice City, a few more days of review reading won't kill you.