GTA VI: 80-hour story, 600,000 NPC animations, and an optional romance
Rockstar has shown 26 minutes of GTA VI gameplay, and an IGN preview that followed confirms the game is enormous — the main story plus key side missions runs over 80 hours, and the open world dwarfs anything in the series so far. The game launches November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S only, priced at $79.99 for the Standard Edition and $99.99 for Ultimate — below the $90-plus figures that had been floating around. No PC version at launch.
Jason and Lucia
The dual-protagonist setup goes further than GTA V's character-switching. Players can tune the relationship between Jason and Lucia anywhere from strictly professional to full romance — hold the trigger to walk hand-in-hand, set up dates, hit the gym together, or ignore each other entirely. In open-world play, swapping between the two is instant. During a car chase, one drives while the other shoots from the window or roof hatch. When one heads off solo, the other sends texts — asking you to lock up the house or pick up groceries.
Both characters sweat visibly under exertion and exchange non-verbal cues: glances, gestures. Hair and beards grow in real time. Body shape changes with diet and gym visits, echoing GTA: San Andreas.
The world
Vice City is roughly twice the size of Los Santos from GTA V. The map spans a full megapolis, suburbs, tropical Everglades-style wetlands with manatees and alligators, and a chain of smaller islands. Buildings under construction in the city visibly progress as the story moves forward.
An in-game social platform modelled on TikTok and Instagram — called "Leonida Viral" — means bystanders film your mayhem on their phones. Those clips spread online and can flag you to police or rival gangs.
Driving and weapons
Cars now have working fuel, temperature, and engine-damage gauges on the dashboard. Run dry and you're stranded. Supercars deploy active spoilers and show glowing brake calipers under hard braking. Stealing a premium vehicle requires cloning its smart key with a scanner or using a lockpick. Your weapon loadout is split: one pistol and one long-arm on your person, everything else stored in the car boot.
Police and AI
The wanted system brings back six stars. Cops now remember faces, tattoos, hairstyles, clothing, and your car — swap your jacket or repaint the car in an alley to shake them. A 911 call only triggers police if a bystander actually manages to make the call.
Rockstar created over 600,000 unique NPC animations for GTA VI. For context, GTA V had around 55,000. Civilians have individual patience thresholds: rob a convenience store and random shoppers may physically fight back.
Pointless street violence lowers residents' trust, which shifts dialogue options in side quests and changes shop prices. Shooting enemies in the limbs incapacitates without killing — useful when you want to stop someone reaching for their phone.
Pre-orders are live on the PlayStation UK and Xbox storefronts now. All players start simultaneously on November 19 — no early access. DLCompare has a full breakdown of editions and regional pricing.