Rockstar's San Andreas page says that five years before the story, Carl Johnson escaped the pressures of life in Los Santos, a city it describes as tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption.
Rockstar's San Andreas page sets the story in the early '90s, when Carl has to go home because his mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are heading toward disaster.
Rockstar's San Andreas page says a couple of corrupt cops frame CJ for homicide when he returns, which sends him on a journey across the entire state of San Andreas.
Rockstar announced Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, which includes San Andreas, as available digitally for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.
GameSpot's 2004 review says the game opens with Carl returning to Los Santos after five years in GTA III's Liberty City because his mother was killed, and that within an hour a pair of crooked cops pick him up.
GameSpot's 2004 review says the Grove Street Families fell into disarray during Carl's five years away, and that he and the gang's other leaders (long-winded Big Smoke, dust-smoking Ryder and his stubborn brother Sweet) set out to retake the streets from the Ballas, starting with spray-painting over rival tags.
GameSpot's 2004 review says Vice City captured the look and attitude of Miami, while San Andreas spans three cities: Los Santos, hilly and foggy San Fierro, and Las Venturas with its casino strip and surrounding desert.
GameSpot's 2004 review says you start restricted to Los Santos, which the story explains with an earthquake that took out the bridges and roads out of the city.
GameSpot's 2004 review calls the countryside, with its winding roads and small towns, unlike anything in previous GTA games, and says no loading time splits up the landmass.
GameSpot's 2004 review says that after things go sour you eventually have to get out of Los Santos, winding up in the country outside the city on a quest to put right what has gone wrong.
GameSpot's 2004 review says CJ works out in gyms for muscle and stamina, stamina sets how long he can sprint, eating can raise his fat statistic, and his body shape changes depending on what you do.
GameSpot's 2004 review says vehicle and weapon skills rise with use, bicycling skill means higher bunny hops, and the top weapon level, "hitman", opens up dual-wielding some one-handed weapons.
GameSpot's 2004 review says CJ is played by Young Maylay, a relatively unknown rapper who delivers an excellent performance, with MC Eiht as Ryder and Samuel L. Jackson as the dirty cop Officer Tenpenny.
GameSpot's 2004 preview says you can pay for a high-top fade at Reece's Hair Facial Studio, and that CJ's character model reflects whatever you change, from clothes to hairstyle.
GamesRadar's top 100 GTA moments ranks Smoke and Ryder's betrayal 15th: CJ catches his childhood friends working with the Ballas and corrupt cops, in the Green Sabre from his mother's killing.
GamesRadar wrote in 2011 that Big Smoke's good life was paid for by a corrupt C.R.A.S.H. police unit, that the price included a part in the murder of CJ's mother, and that he ended up a pawn in Officer Tenpenny's schemes.
Kotaku, citing Bloomberg, reports Rockstar's publishing head recalled Take-Two's CEO answering the second delay request with 'Please tell me you're kidding.'
Rolling Stone reports Robyn on Flash FM, Trick Daddy and Trina on Dirty South Classics, Burna Boy on AfroBank FM, and Slayer’s Kerry King and Tom Araya on The Chamber.
Take-Two expects eight to eight point two billion dollars in net bookings this fiscal year, with GTA 6 as the reason it gives; that's the whole company, not one game.
Stephen Root told the Associated Press he is in Grand Theft Auto VI. Anyone who has heard Bill Dauterive had already guessed as much from the boat yard scene. Root is the one who said it out loud, and the character name comes from press coverage rather than from Rockstar, which has named nobody.
GTA Base, summarizing Game Informer, reported that GTA VI has more interiors than any previous Grand Theft Auto game, with attention to rooftops, alleys and the spaces between major locations, and that the pause-menu map has a satellite-style look.
GTA Base, summarizing Game Informer, reported that away from the main roads Leonida has ATV trails, mud parks, demolition derbies, mountain biking, motocross, golf, farms and ranches, alongside beaches, swamps, industrial areas, abandoned tourist attractions and rural countryside.
GTA Base, summarizing Game Informer, reported that the six-star wanted level returns alongside a Heat system, that police can use a crime scene's details such as the player's appearance and location to identify them, and that changing clothes or hairstyle, ditching the getaway vehicle and splitting up from the partner all help avoid being identified. The 'Busted' screen still appears on arrest.
Push Square, citing Game Informer, reported that rain in GTA VI can create rainbows and puddles, and that wet surfaces stay wet long after a shower ends.
GTA Base, summarizing Game Informer, reported that Leonida's NPCs vary in height, body type, musculature and body-fat distribution, with skin details such as freckles, moles and tanning, that clothing changes with location, social setting, weathering, dirt and fit, and that Rockstar has a dedicated team writing ambient NPC dialogue.
Game Informer's own cover story page captions one of its new screenshots: 'GTAVI's NPCs feature more diverse body types and distinct physical features'.
GTA Base, summarizing Game Informer, reported that robberies can be approached quietly or aggressively, that how far a situation escalates shapes the police response, and that pulling off a robbery together as a team can strengthen Jason and Lucia's relationship.
The first time an online side of Grand Theft Auto VI has been put in writing in public, it came out of a dismissal hearing rather than a trailer. Rockstar's own statement calls the phrase 'online 32 player format' one of the company's most closely guarded secrets. That is a description of how secret something was, not a spec. No online mode has been announced and no lobby size has been announced.
The rooftop sign at the Kaseya Center will read Welcome to Vice City. It was signed off by the Miami-Dade mayor under a threshold that does not need a board vote, and commissioners heard about it at half past one in the morning during a budget meeting. This is a different arrangement from the Miami Beach campaign.
Rockstar says the album comes to vinyl and CD at launch, with three formats sold only on its own album site and other colorways split across retailers.
"Flower in a Hurricane" is on Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album, the official soundtrack, which can be pre-saved on major streaming services and pre-ordered on vinyl or CD.
Rockstar opened pre-orders on September 24, 2026 for Grand Theft Auto VI: The Goodtime State – Vice City Collection, a limited-edition collector's box that arrives on November 19 and is available while supplies last. Rockstar says pre-order details for Asia, Latin America, and Australia will follow.
Rockstar says the collection is inspired by Leonida's hit TV show Macca the Gator. It includes a 6-inch Macca the Gator figure with a stash compartment, matte black Oakley Frogskins sunglasses, a New Era 9FORTY snapback, a Chunkee the Manatee shot glass, a Leonida Keys crossbody bag, and a double-sided poster showing the full Leonida landscape.
GTA Base, summarizing Game Informer, reported that some animals can be tracked and fall into Rare, Discoverable and Legendary categories, and that Rockstar is keeping the Legendary animals' identities secret for now.
Rockstar North co-studio head Rob Nelson told LOVE that realism can help greatly with immersion but too much can feel tedious, so the team tries to find a balance, and that some parts of reality are left out because they do not make sense with the experience Rockstar is trying to create.
Rockstar open-world writing director James Horton told LOVE that the city's background chatter should wash over you as you sprint down the busiest street, hearing snatches of a hundred different conversations as you go.
Grand Theft Auto VI Spotify billboard campaign: Artists posted the artwork, Spotify put its logo on it and bought billboards in three cities, and a day later Rockstar announced the album. That is the whole shape of it. Nothing about the game itself has been announced by Spotify.
Rockstar Games employment tribunal: The reason a GTA VI detail turned up in a court file at all is that Rockstar is in the middle of a hearing in Scotland over 31 sackings, running from September 10 through October 16. Rockstar says it was gross misconduct over confidential information. The union says it was union busting. Neither side has been ruled on.
Dazed New Idols cover: Dazed put Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos on the cover of its autumn 2026 New Idols issue, published online on August 26, 2026, and described as the couple's first print appearance anywhere, which is before LOVE Issue 27.
Cactus Jack x Rockstar Games x Nike Air Force 1: Sneaker press reports a Cactus Jack x Rockstar Nike AF1 pack for launch day; Rockstar hasn't announced it.
In-game purchases: According to Kinda Funny's visit to Rockstar North, as reported by Stevivor, Rob Nelson said the single-player game has no real-money purchases.
Jack of Hearts: Rockstar's Boobie Ike page uses the phrase Jack of Hearts and says he runs a strip club and a studio, without naming either. Travis Scott stamping his track 'recorded live at the J.O.H.' lines up with that. It lines up. It is not confirmation.
