**June 18, 2026** — Rockstar confirmed today that pre-orders for *Grand Theft Auto VI* open on June 25, across digital storefronts and select physical retailers. The release date remains November 19, 2026, for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. --- ## Why the June 25 pre-order date actually matters There's a technical detail behind this date worth explaining. The PlayStation Store and Xbox Store only allow pre-orders to go live for games launching within the next 12 months. With the window opening this week, it closes right now — meaning that, in practice, delaying the game to 2027 would require pulling the listings from digital storefronts entirely. That's not impossible, but it would be a much more visible move than the previous delays were. It's not an absolute guarantee, but it's probably the most concrete confirmation to date that November 19 is a real date. --- ## The cover art and what it tells us Alongside the pre-order announcement, Rockstar revealed the official cover art. The two protagonists, Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, are front and center, with the Vice City skyline behind them. Around them, the usual series composition: helicopter, motorcycle, supercar, and — of course — an alligator somewhere in the middle, because this is Leonida. Jason is a former soldier who ended up working for local drug runners in the Leonida Keys. Lucia came from Liberty City, was imprisoned at Leonida Penitentiary after trying to protect her family, and eventually crosses paths with Jason following a botched bank robbery. From there, the two get pulled into a wider conspiracy. Rockstar has described their dynamic in a Bonnie and Clyde register, and the cover art leans into that. Lucia is the first non-optional female protagonist in a mainline *GTA* title. She's not an alternate choice — she's a co-lead from the start, on equal footing with Jason. --- ## PC: no date, probably later Pre-orders are for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S only. There's no PC version announced. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick was asked about this in May and said the initial console focus serves "the core consumer," leaving open the possibility of other consumers being served at a later point. The most obvious reading is that a PC version is in the plans, just not at the same time as consoles. Rockstar has done this before — *Red Dead Redemption 2* arrived on PC more than a year after consoles. It's not a surprise, but anyone playing exclusively on PC is going to have to wait, without knowing for how long. --- ## Price — nobody knows yet The official price hasn't been announced. Speculation circles around $79.99 or $99.99 for special editions, but those are estimates. Zelnick casually mentioned "70 or 80" in an interview without committing to anything specific, and Rockstar hasn't said more than that. The expectation is that pricing and editions will be revealed when pre-orders open on June 25. Until then, everything is guesswork. --- ## What happened on the stock market Take-Two shares rose 3.4% at the New York open following the announcement. For context: the company had been down 8.2% for the year, while the S&P 500 was up 9.6% over the same period. *GTA VI* represents a very significant portion of the company's projections for the next fiscal year — Take-Two is forecasting between $8.0 and $8.2 billion in Net Bookings for 2027, and the game is the main driver of those numbers. --- ## The marketing push starts now After the May earnings call, Zelnick said the *GTA VI* marketing push was planned for summer. Today's announcement is the first concrete sign of that — pre-orders, cover art, and the official Rockstar website updated with new images of Vice City. What's still missing: a new trailer. There's no confirmation of a third trailer yet, but it would be unusual for Rockstar to let June 25 pass without any new video content. Over the next few months leading up to November, expect a more active marketing cycle than what we've seen so far. --- ## What's still unanswered Today's announcement left a lot of questions open: how the online mode will work, whether there'll be cross-play between PS5 and Xbox, what editions are available and what they include, and what the final price will be. Some of those answers should come on June 25. Others will probably only arrive in September or October, closer to launch. --- *GTA VI* launches **November 19, 2026** for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Pre-orders open from **June 25, 2026**.