After years of teasing in short bursts, GTA 6 just had its biggest reveal yet in the form of the “Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look” Netflix presentation.
For the uninitiated, GTA 6 An Extended Look aired on Netflix earlier today, and it was a roughly 26-minute gameplay special captured on the PS5. For those without a Netflix subscription, there’s also a YouTube version available to watch.
As you would expect from such a long teaser, GTA 6 An Extended Look has shed light on several new gameplay mechanics, characters, locations, and features that players can expect to see when the highly anticipated title finally launches.
Here’s everything you need to know about the presentation and what it unveiled.
GTA 6 Story and Open-World Missions
GTA 6 is expected to feature a vast storyline, much bigger than its predecessors, with tons of side content for players to explore.
Rob Nelson, co-studio head at Rockstar North, said his most recent playthrough took around 80 hours. The campaign is built in chapters, similar to Red Dead Redemption 2, and Rockstar is deliberately blurring the wall between “story mission” and “open-world activity” so players are pulled into exploring Leonida rather than sprinting toward the next objective.
There’s also a choice factor in the GTA 6 story, with player decisions likely to have consequences. Small decisions will quietly stack up over time, while bigger ones might reshape the story more drastically.
Missions will also have more built-in flexibility, with players having several options or perspectives to complete heists and story sequences from.
GTA 6 Protagonists
GTA 6 An Extended Look showed us that the dynamic between protagonists Jason and Lucia is clearly one of the central focuses of this game. Similar to GTA 5, players are able to switch between the main characters freely while roaming the map. They will also be able to call or text each other, and even ask them to meet you somewhere specific.
When left alone, the two will go about their own routines, but ignoring them enough can strain the relationship.
Romance in GTA 6 will be optional, not mandatory. How the relationship between Jason and Lucia actually develops depends on how you play the game, and spending downtime together, shopping, working out, or pulling off robberies as a pair will nudge things along. Rockstar has also made it clear that a stronger relationship won’t hand you gameplay bonuses.
GTA 6 Map
Rockstar still hasn’t given us an official size of the GTA 6 map, but the full map is estimated to be roughly triple the size of the Red Dead Redemption 2 map, with Vice City itself said to be about twice as large as Los Santos in GTA 5.
Each district will reportedly have its own distinct look and population, and the pause-menu map now uses satellite-style imagery instead of a simplified layout.
Additionally, stuff like wandering NPCs and ambient encounters will help make the world feel alive. According to Rockstar, GTA 6 features over 600,000 individual NPC animations, which is a huge jump from GTA 5, which roughly had 55,000 animations for the NPCs.
GTA 6 Brings Back Six Star Wanted Level
The wanted system has been expanded back to six stars after GTA 5 capped things at five. The cops are now smarter than ever, and can react to information like your face, your clothes, your car, and other known aspects when hunting you down. During a heated chase, players may have to look for more innovative ways to shake off the police.
Despite the aforementioned glow-ups, not everything in GTA 6 An Extended Look managed to impress the game’s fan base. Several players have criticised the game’s UI, which seems to be inspired by RDR 2, the GTA 6 minimap, some of the animations, and other aspects of the open-world title that were showcased in the reveal.
Reports have also surfaced online claiming that the base PS5 build is currently locked to 30 frames per second, and it’s unclear whether PS5 Pro will get a smoother performance mode. On top of all that, first-person view, a fan-favorite option since GTA 5, reportedly won’t be available at launch.
The lack of personality in Jason, one of the game’s two protagonists, has also become a hot topic of discussion within the community following the reveal. However, it may be too harsh to judge his character based on the relatively limited footage we’ve seen so far.
Despite these shortcomings, it’s safe to say that GTA 6 An Extended Look was the most substantial look at the game to date, and the community’s reaction has been largely positive. GTA 6 is all set to release for the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 19, 2026, with no specific release date for the PC being confirmed at the time of writing.
