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GTA 6 gameplay: everything confirmed from the Extended Look and previews

Last verified 5 Nov 2026By HeistNotes Desk · Updated 5 Nov 2026

Rockstar has shown about 30 minutes of GTA 6 gameplay: the 27-minute Extended Look of 27 August 2026, a 25-second clip in South Park, and the in-engine Launch Trailer. Add a closed-door preview for press and creators in July, and we know a lot about how the game plays. This guide sorts it into three piles: what Rockstar has stated, what its own footage shows, and what preview attendees reported.

What Rockstar has stated

  • Two playable leads. You play both Jason and Lucia, and Rockstar says the strength of their relationship influences the story and its ending (Red Bull, reporting Rockstar's material around the Extended Look).
  • The footage is real. The Extended Look and the Launch Trailer were "captured entirely in-game from a PlayStation 5", in Rockstar's words.
  • Police notice how you look. Rockstar North's Rob Nelson told Famitsu the wanted system factors in your clothing, appearance and vehicle, so changing clothes or ditching a car matters.
  • Handling tuned with racing drivers. Rockstar has said it brought in real racing drivers to work on vehicle handling.
  • Length. Nelson estimated his own main-story playthrough, with the narrative side content, at around 80 hours (via Red Bull). That's one developer's figure, not an official runtime.
  • No microtransactions in the story mode, and no generative AI in the game's making, Rockstar has said.
  • Single-player at launch. Rockstar hasn't shown or dated GTA Online for GTA VI.

What the Extended Look shows

  • Switching. Control passes between Jason and Lucia within the same mission; they call and text each other, and you can play them as a couple or as partners only.
  • Cover shooting. Third-person gunfights through offices, corridors and a skyscraper, with doorways and furniture as cover; a shoot-out at a party at Megamundo's headquarters; shooting from a moving car at pursuing police, including their tyres.
  • Wanted stars and a search area. Stars on the HUD and a search radius on the minimap during Raul's getaway; a police task force raiding an apartment building after a tip-off.
  • Jobs. A drug pickup for Boobie Ike, an armoured-truck robbery, Raul Bautista's getaway and crew invitation, Brian Heder's one-person job, the Megamundo security detail.
  • Racing. Car and dirt-bike races with position and lap counters.
  • Everything else. Basketball, kayaking, scuba diving on a wreck, airboats through the wetlands, weight training at the gym, jet skis, a skydive and parachute over Vice City, a timed shooting course, the beach, shops, clubs and rooftop bars.
  • Bodies change. Red Bull reports that diet, exercise, sleep and stress show on your character; the gym scene is the visible part of that.

What preview attendees reported

In July, Rockstar showed curated gameplay (not hands-on) to a small group of outlets and creators in Edinburgh. Vice collated the accounts; gtasix.org and others relayed the streamer El Rubius's. These are second-hand and may be imprecise:

  • Heat and Criminal Profiles. A wanted system with hollow and solid stars, a police "Focus" ability, and a separate criminal profile for each lead that remembers unnecessary violence. Rockstar says it isn't a morality meter. Losing the police doesn't fully clear you: the area stays marked.
  • Fuel. Cars need petrol: hold the trigger at a pump for about ten seconds. Gas stations repair vehicles. Rockstar acknowledged fuel may divide fans.
  • Stolen cars have trackers that beep when you slow down; a garage removes them. Pay 'n' Spray returns.
  • Robberies pay into a duffel bag, fenced for cash; apps named include Waink (cars), BuckMe, RydeMe (taxis), WhatUp and Snapmatic, plus a Streamer Mode that mutes licensed music.
  • Gunplay. Auto-aim off by default; two concealed handguns always on you; both leads have a slow-motion focus ability (Jason's targets limbs and disarms, Lucia's lines up one precise shot).
  • Controls. Sprint moved off the stick button (accounts differ on where); handbrake on the face button.
  • Stealth. Crouching yes; the prone position from the 2022 leak is reportedly cut.
  • Life. Dynamic dates rather than a dating menu, a zoo, fishing, hunting, pool, mini golf, backyard wrestling, hotels you can explore floor by floor, dogs you can pet, and bodies you can put in a boot.
  • Dog droppings as a weapon. The South Park clip (28 October) shows Jason picking one up on a packed Vice City beach and throwing it at a stranger; Kotaku and Vice confirm Rockstar supplied the footage.

What we don't know

Frame rate and resolution modes, PS5 Pro enhancements, the save system, difficulty settings, co-op or Online, and the full mission count. The Facts Ledger carries each of those as an open question until Rockstar answers it.

Related

Watch every video on the trailers page, meet the cast in the characters guide, and see where it all happens in the map guide.

Sources

This guide was drafted by the HeistNotes desk with AI, from the sources listed above, and hasn't yet been reviewed by a named editor. Every claim is labelled confirmed, reported or expected. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

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