Now I know why GTA 6 has been delayed, after seeing the second trailer

(Image credit: Rockstar)

published 6 May 2025

Quick Summary

After the disappointment of GTA 6's release delay, Rockstar has given us the second trailer for its forthcoming epic.

The game will release on 26 May 2026 and if the gameplay looks even half as good as this tease, it'll be well worth the extended wait.

Rockstar has followed its less than welcome GTA 6 delay news with a shiny new trailer, and it might have just given us a couple of clues as to why the studio needs more time.

The game looks so mind-bendingly good, intricate bug fixing and tweaking will undoubtedly take that bit longer. And I for one am more than happy to wait.

Set in Vice City and the surrounding fictional state of Leonida, Grand Theft Auto VI is clearly Rockstar's biggest and most ambitious GTA yet. And, considering how stunning the latest footage looks, with an almost photo realistic attention to detail, anything not quite right about the finished game will stick out a mile.

Just ask anyone at CD Projekt Red about Cyberpunk 2077's console launch and I bet they wish they'd had the ability to delay it in similar fashion.

Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 2 - YouTube

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Of course, the GTA 6 trailer 2 doesn't show any gameplay footage, so the playable game might make a few more compromises, but there are a few things in it that make me eager to see more.

For starters, we now know the name of the male protagonist. Joining Lucia is Jason, a seemingly normal man – albeit one with a hinted dark past. Certainly, he can pilot a jetski, ride a motorbike and drive (it'd be a weird GTA game if he couldn't). He's also likely spent some time in jail, it seems.

Other than that, it's the amazing vistas that impress most in the latest clips. We also get to see more of the lighting and neon effects we can expect in the finished game. We've come a long way since 2002's GTA: Vice City, although there's still some of its DNA present.

GTA 6 will be released on 26 May 2026 – a little over a year from now – so we'll undoubtedly see some more screens and footage ahead of then. But from what I've now seen, I think it's in very safe hands and would much rather a perfect final release rather than rushed one.

And I'm sure many others concur.

Rik is T3’s news editor, which means he looks after the news team and the up-to-the-minute coverage of all the hottest gadgets and products you’ll definitely want to read about. And, with more than 35 years of experience in tech and entertainment journalism, including editing and writing for numerous websites, magazines, and newspapers, he’s always got an eye on the next big thing.

Rik also has extensive knowledge of AV, TV streaming and smart home kit, plus just about everything to do with games since the late 80s. Prior to T3, he spent 13 years at Pocket-lint heading up its news team, and was a TV producer and presenter on such shows as Channel 4's GamesMaster, plus Sky's Games World, Game Over, and Virtual World of Sport.