GTA 6 Trailer Release: The first trailer for "Grand Theft Auto 6" was released on YouTube on Tuesday. The game promises a 2025 release for the latest installment in the popular video game franchise. The video game will be set in a fictional Vice City, reminiscent of Miami, and it seems like it will feature the first playable female character in the franchise, as reported by news agency AFP.
Rockstar Games, the makers of GTA, released the trailer, prompted by a leak of it online, on the eve of Tuesday's scheduled first glimpse of GTA 6. "Our trailer has leaked, so please watch the real thing," Rockstar Games said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. After its release, the video garnered some 2.2 million likes on YouTube within about 30 minutes.
GTA 5, the previous installment of the third-person shooter game, was released a decade ago, and around 190 million copies of the game have been sold, according to Rockstar parent Take-Two Interactive. With this, the game became the best-selling game in the United States for the past decade based on both unit and dollar sales, as per AFP.
According to Take-Two Interactive, the entire GTA franchise has sold a massive 410 million units so far. According to Wedbush analyst Nick McKay, predecessor GTA 5 and an ongoing online multiplayer extension of the game have brought in nearly $10 billion in revenue, according to AFP.
The game, which saw massive success, has also been embroiled in controversies. Critics have been accusing the series of glorifying violence and encouraging players to engage in criminal behaviour; however, the allegations have been denied by Take-Two executives.
The players in GTA 5 are strongly influenced by gangsta rap culture and are seen selling drugs and getting involved in fights, robberies, and car rampages. Gameplay options also included assaulting prostitutes and going to strip clubs.
In the earlier installments of the franchise, players were seen taking on roles in the Italian mafia or following in the footsteps of "Scarface" kingpin Tony Montana.
GTA 5 included transgender characters, but "they were sex workers that were grotesque caricatures of transgender women," said Blair Durkee, associate director of gaming at nonprofit LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD, as quoted by AFP.
As per Durkee, videos of players beating those trans characters with baseball bats in the game can readily be found online. "We certainly hope that GTA 6 will reflect a more inclusive attitude toward LGBTQ characters and players," Durkee said, as quoted by AFP.
With the release of GTA V came the launch of an online multiplayer option, delivering high-quality experiences in a virtual Los Angeles-like city of hijinks and criminality.
"I can play according to the main storyline, or I can just explore the world and cause mayhem to fill the time," McKay said, as quoted by AFP. "Very little is off-limits to the player." Rockstar has been consistent in adding fresh content to GTA Online. Playing GTA Online is free after buying the game, and users can spend money on in-game items.