GTA 6 as your first GTA: what newcomers need to know

GTA 6 comes out on November 19, 2026 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The last numbered entry, GTA 5, came out in 2013, so for a lot of players this will be their first game in the series. That’s fine: you don’t need to have played the earlier ones.

Do you need to play the earlier games?

No. Each Grand Theft Auto has its own story and its own protagonists (Wikipedia). GTA 6, the eighth main game in the series, starts fresh with Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos. Some places will be familiar to fans, such as Vice City, but it’s a new version of the city and you don’t need the old story to follow it. If you’re curious how the 2026 city compares with the 2002 one, we compared them.

What kind of game it is

• Where: Leonida, the game’s version of Florida. Its main city is Vice City, based on Miami, and there are five more regions. The map is bigger than GTA 5’s, and places you haven’t visited stay hidden until you get there.
• Who: Lucia has just got out of prison, and Jason works for drug runners in the Keys. Together they want a house and a life without debts, and Raul, an older bank robber, brings them into the big heists.
• How: the story is split into chapters and has choices along the way. Between missions the world is open: you can drive around, rob shops, go to the gym or go on dates.
• How long: there’s no official figure. Rob Nelson of Rockstar North finished the story and some side content in about 80 hours (more on that).
• With whom: Rockstar calls GTA 6 a single-player game, and it has no microtransactions. A new online mode is rumored for 2027, and the current GTA Online keeps running (details).

The basics

• Missions. Story missions are marked on the map. To head to one, hold down on the D-pad: it sets a waypoint without opening the map.
• Money. Story missions alone won’t pay enough to move the story forward, so you earn money in the open world, for example by robbing shops, and you can rob almost any of them. Nelson told Famitsu that you lose the cash you carry if you’re killed or arrested, so it’s safer in the bank.
• Wanted level. Up to six stars, and they only appear if a witness, an alarm or a camera reports the crime. The color of the stars and the icons under them show what the police know. Nelson says stars don’t rise easily and one star isn’t hard to shake. Ditching the car the police know about, changing clothes and splitting up all help (police guide).
• Switching characters. You can swap between Jason and Lucia most of the time, much like switching between the three leads in GTA 5. The other one keeps their own routine, so they might be at the safehouse or out in the city.
• Focus. This ability marks police officers, who don’t show on the radar during a chase, along with useful items, and slows time to help you aim.
• Your car. Early on the garage holds three vehicles. You can call your personal vehicle at any time, and every gun you’ve bought is in the back. You can carjack any driver, but some parked cars can’t be stolen until later in the story.
• Weapons. You carry at most two handguns and two long guns, and long guns are always visible on your character.
• Getting around. The Ryde Me taxi app and buses work as fast travel.
• Body. Food, sleep and the gym affect health and stamina. Sleep isn’t required, but going without it shows.

Step by step: how to make money in GTA 6 and how switching between Jason and Lucia works.

Your first evening

The game starts in the Leonida Keys, where Jason has his first house. Nelson’s advice is not to rush the story: “If you take a bit of time and explore, you will be rewarded,” he told IGN. You can also hide the on-screen interface entirely if you’d rather just look at the world.

Before launch, go through our launch checklist: digital copies pre-load from November 12, and everyone who buys before November 20 gets the Vintage Vice City pack. After release, missions, collectibles and shops will be marked on our interactive map as they’re confirmed.

Age rating and languages

GTA 6 is a game for adults: the ESRB rated it M for Mature 17+, it’s PEGI 18 in Europe, and Germany and Japan rate it 18+ as well. The ESRB lists intense violence, blood and gore, drugs and alcohol, nudity, strong sexual content and strong language (ESRB). If you’re choosing for a teenager, read our parents’ guide. Voice acting is English only; 12 other languages get text and subtitles.

What to read next

• Everything we know about GTA 6, in one place.
• Things to do in GTA 6: activities outside the story.
• GTA 6 and Red Dead Redemption 2: if you played RDR2, a lot will feel familiar.