GTA 6 Trailer 1 Turns Two Years Old and The Long Road Looks Messier Than Ever

It’s officially been two years since we caught that first magical glimpse at sunny Vice City. GTA 6’s first trailer was nothing short of seismic upon arrival, instantly smashing records left and right, and delivering a statement of intent from a studio that always lets its games do the talking. Within a brisk 90 seconds, the trailer effortlessly established the sizzling dynamic between its protagonists, showcased the unprecedented level of detail baked into its urban sandbox, and presented Rockstar’s characteristically cogent understanding of contemporary culture. In short, that first look was a masterclass in giving fans enough to be excited about while still keeping things largely under wraps.
As you probably remember, the trailer ended with a title card that read “Coming 2025,” and we all know how that has aged. Following two disappointing delays, GTA 6 has effectively been pushed back by an entire year and will now be released at the tail end of 2026. However, we’re not dwelling on that today. Instead, we’re taking stock of everything Rockstar has actually shown since that reveal: what’s been confirmed, what’s changed, and where GTA 6 stands after two years of anticipation.
Measuring the Impact of GTA 6 Trailer 1
Before diving into everything we’ve learnt about GTA 6 over the past two years, it’s important to highlight the impact of the first trailer.
Within the first 24 hours of its arrival, the video pulled in around 90 million views on YouTube, setting a new record for the most-viewed non-music video on the platform. In that same span, it gathered around 8.9 million likes, making it the most‑liked game trailer in YouTube history at the time. The momentum raged on for months, and the trailer has amassed nearly 270 million views at the time of writing. Keep in mind that a premature leak ever so slightly dampened its impact crater, and these figures would look even more audacious had things gone according to plan.
Its effects were obviously felt on social media as well, with GTA 6 becoming the primary topic of discussion across virtually every platform. Content creators, public-facing brands, and even fellow studios all chimed in on the chatter to commemorate the reveal of a game that feels like it’s been in the making for a decade.
After several hundred rewatches, the community began dissecting every minute detail featured in the trailer. You had fans gawking at the strip club banners and documenting the variety of NPC body types, with the most passionate of players embarking on a project to map out modern-day Vice City using puddle reflections as their North Star.
To sum things up, the release of GTA 6’s first trailer was a cultural touchstone. If you don’t feel like it carried that much significance, it’s probably because it feels oddly recent. But I can confidently say that five or ten years from today, we’ll all be heralding it as a glorious first look at something truly (or hopefully) extraordinary.
What Have We Learned About GTA 6 Since Trailer 1
So, what has Rockstar revealed about the game in this two-year stretch? The answer is somewhere in the middle of ‘a lot’ and ‘very little’ – let me explain.
For starters, we got a massive info dump on GTA 6’s official website, accompanied by a stylish second trailer that bore all the hallmarks of a Hollywood blockbuster. The trailer gave us an extended look at Jason and Lucia’s relationship (and confirmed their names) as well as the supporting cast of characters. It showcased some of Vice City’s incredibly dense and incredibly detailed urban environments, while hinting at the possibility of drastic weather systems such as hurricanes. It also established that our leading duo is locked in a fight for survival that can only be won by gratuitous violence and wanton destruction (not that we’re complaining).
Besides all this, it featured a treasure trove of tiny details and easter eggs, including hints pointing to potential mini-games and a direct reference to a Vice City fan-favorite.
As packed as the trailer was, the juiciest reveals were actually reserved for the website. By scrolling through its impeccably designed panels, players can get an overview of the six major regions/biomes on the GTA 6 map. You’ve got neon-soaked Vice City at the heart of things, the industrial Ambrosia in the north, and the swamp-like Grassrivers in the south. Flanking the primordial swamp is what appears to be the game’s starting location: the Leonida Keys. Then, on the western end of the gigantic map, you’ve got the coast of Port Gellhorn, and further north sits the monolithic Mount Kalaga.
Based on everything revealed thus far, it’s estimated that GTA 6’s map is roughly 70% bigger than its GTA 5 counterpart. When you factor in the noticeably advanced visuals and jaw-dropping NPC variety, the generational leap between the two titles is clear as day. Due to the sheer scope of the game, there have naturally been some concerns about how well current-gen consoles can handle the upcoming title. Thankfully, Rockstar soothed these worries by confirming that trailer two was rendered in-engine on the base PS5.
Given the amount of information we’ve covered already, you might be wondering why I undersold Rockstar’s promotional efforts at the start. The reason is pretty straightforward: we still haven’t seen uncut gameplay.
Cinematic trailers are always fun to watch, but the meat and bones of the package will always be the central gameplay loop. This is a department that the studio remains tight-lipped about, outside of stating that the second trailer contained gameplay of some form. Without clear cutaways between cutscenes and player-controlled sequences, it’s impossible to tell how GTA 6 will actually feel in action.
With Rockstar’s reputation for evolving its formula with every release looming in the backdrop, the lack of gameplay footage feels like an unnecessary blind spot, made worse by the two-year-long stretch. The studio’s continued silence means that we’re still no closer to a proper gameplay reveal or even the release of trailer three. When you factor in the abrupt delays, the picture surrounding GTA 6 gets a bit more complicated. In fact, recent incidents at the studio suggest that things are downright dire.
Rockstar Layoffs Complicate Release Timeline
In early November, Rockstar announced the layoffs of 34 staff members across its UK and Canada offices. The publisher accused terminated employees of gross misconduct and alleged that they had shared confidential information in a public forum.
The affected employees, in turn, accused Rockstar of blatant union busting. With support from the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), they staged a protest outside parent company Take-Two’s London offices, and stated that the only information they exchanged was details about working conditions at the studio.
As you’d expect, Rockstar caught a ton of flak for what appears to be the wrongful dismissal of long-term staff members. But the negativity only compounded after an active employee shared a damning account of the conditions within the studio.
They highlighted how abrupt and forceful the layoffs were, as affected employees, regardless of their location, were provided next to no justification for being fired. Their right to Union representation was also refused as they were reportedly “frogmarched” out of the studio. Their many colleagues were left in a state of dread, with studio morale said to have hit “rock bottom.”
All this is extremely concerning, and the fact that it’s happening at a studio known for enforcing brutal crunch in the past is quite telling. These layoffs are far from a standard reduction in numbers, as the fired employees also included senior staff in critical roles, whose departure could directly impact the studio’s ability to hit project deadlines.
Reliable sources have stated that GTA 6 is ‘content-complete,’ and Rockstar itself confirmed that the game’s latest delay was in service of giving it extra polish. The loss of key members will almost certainly hinder the studio’s ability to do precisely that, which is why there’s still no shortage of doubts being aimed at the November 19, 2026, release date.
And that’s really where things stand now. Two years on from that first, dazzling trailer, Rockstar has given us a sprawling map, a magnetic duo of protagonists, a city alive with detail, and a promise of technological ambition that eclipses anything the studio has attempted before. Yet it has also given us long stretches of silence, shifting timelines, and a glimpse at internal instability that complicates the glossy picture presented on screen.
It’s a strange duality – a game that looks impossibly alive on the surface, yet whose development feels anything but steady. Maybe that contrast is just the reality of modern blockbuster creation; maybe it’s a sign of deeper turbulence. Either way, the next time Rockstar speaks, it needs to be with more than another cinematic trailer. The studio owes fans a clear-eyed look at what GTA 6 actually is in motion.
If the past two years have taught us anything, it’s that the hype surrounding GTA 6 isn’t going anywhere. The question now is whether Rockstar can deliver a game worthy of the noise, and whether the final chapter of this long, messy lead-up will be defined by reassurance or by further uncertainty. Only time, and hopefully a proper gameplay reveal, will tell.