Background: Vice City at night, official screenshot. Image: Rockstar Games.
Gameplay hub
GTA 6 gameplay: every system shown so far
GTA 6 is a third-person crime game with two playable leads, six wanted stars, cash you can lose, instant swaps between Jason and Lucia and a reputation that remembers how you work. Nearly all of it comes from the 26:48 Extended Look of August 27, 2026, July previews and Rob Nelson's interviews.
Latest change: Added a weather section: Game Informer's September 29 cover story reports Rockstar reworked the weather system to be more localized and… All changes
Fuel: How refueling works, why previews say it will not keep interrupting you, and the EV charging rumor.
Garages and safehouses: Which properties you can buy (garages) and which the story hands you (safehouses).
Controls: Every button prompt reported from the footage, marked by how solid it is.
The story: What is known about the plot, the chapters and the ending.
Cheats: None published yet, and why that is normal before launch.
Crime, the day job
Robberies.official The Extended Look shows a gas station, a Hank's Waffles diner and a Zeke's Gadgets store being robbed. Previews add that almost any business can be hit, from payday lenders and jewelry stores to banks and armored vans, and that police can set a perimeter around a store you just robbed. IGN's preview, as KeenGamer summarized it, describes a choice at the safe: blow it open fast and damage some of the valuables, or take the time to find the combination and recover more while the police risk grows. reported Story jobs such as Raul Bautista's bank job run as full missions, with a police chase through Vice Beach and a getaway over the Rialto Causeway. The routine as shown is in how to rob a store in GTA 6.
Car theft.official The WAINK phone app scans a parked car for its value and security. Older cars open with a slim jim minigame, and high-end ones need a key cloner. Previews add tiered trackers in expensive cars and a registration fee to make a stolen car yours. reported Steps are in how to steal cars in GTA 6.
People and animals. Postmode's recap of the Extended Look reports pet, scold and study options on a dog. reported Recaps describe a Red Dead Redemption 2-style menu for pedestrians too, with options such as greet, antagonize, defuse or rob; the option names vary by recap, and the button has not been confirmed by a source we could check. Weapons holster automatically in crowds, and previews say civilians tolerate a holstered gun but scatter from a drawn one. reported
Police.reported A crime needs a witness call, an alarm or a car tracker before police respond. Officers are not marked on the minimap, so Focus, which highlights them through walls, does real work. The full system is on the GTA 6 wanted level explainer.
Stats and the couple
Health, Stamina and Focus.official Three bars sit on the weapon wheel, and two money readouts, which recaps read as cash and bank, sit at the top right of the screen. The weapon wheel has two quick slots for restoring health, and Jason's fridge holds Blitz Smoothies (Stamina and Focus) and Protein Shakes (Health and Stamina). Previews say sleep speeds up stat regeneration and that Focus slows time while aiming, highlights weak points such as tires and gas tanks, and flags opportunities without map markers. reported
Relationship.reported Jason and Lucia's bond is a set of states rather than a meter. Vice's first preview report names the zoo, kayaking and beach walks as dates, and its later roundup adds that a gym visit together can turn into one. Texting, holding hands and saying goodnight count too. Romance is optional, and Vice reports that relationship choices may affect how parts of the story unfold, though Rockstar has not said how much. More on the relationship page.
Customization: clothes, hair, tattoos and body
You change how Jason and Lucia look, not who they are. Both are fixed characters official, and nothing Rockstar has shown includes a character creator for the story. A character creator for a future online mode has not been announced. not announced
Hair and grooming. Vice's preview roundup says you can shave at a safehouse mirror and cut your hair shorter at home, but growing it longer takes a barber. reported The Ultimate Edition's Sara's Unisex Salon adds signature styles, including facial hair for Jason and makeup and nails for Lucia. official
Tattoos. The one parlor Rockstar has named is Electric Fang Tattoo in Stockyard, an Ultimate Edition shop with more than 50 designs by the artist collective FAILE. official
Body. Vice reports that the characters gain weight from eating too much and lose muscle if they stop training, and that gyms are optional but give modest boosts to health, stamina and Focus. reported It is San Andreas's idea with 2026 rendering; see how to work out in GTA 6.
Rockstar lists the salon, the tattoo parlor and Stock 305 among the Ultimate Edition's extras, so Standard owners get them only with the $20 Ultimate upgrade. official Rockstar has not named the regular clothing stores, barbers or parlors every player can use. Time on style also counts for the couple: IGN's preview, as KeenGamer summarized it, lists shopping, salons and exercise among the things that bring Jason and Lucia closer. reported Cars have their own section under GTA 6 car customization.
Driving, shooting, getting around
Driving.official Highway pursuits, drive-bys and shooting from the passenger seat while your partner drives are all in the footage. Previews describe rebuilt handling that aims for GTA IV's weight with GTA V's accessibility, and fuel: hold R2 for about ten seconds at a pump. reported GTABase, a fan database, adds that electric cars charge at stations and that a flipped car stays on its roof; no outlet has repeated either, so treat them as rumor. See fuel in GTA 6 and the vehicles list.
Gunplay.official Cover shooting, slow-motion aiming, bullet cams and colored hit markers are shown. What the colors mean comes from previews: Vice reports white for a hit, yellow when a target is incapacitated and red for a kill. Previews also say auto-aim is off by default and kill cams can be switched off. Vice and GTABase both report a carry limit from the July previews: two concealed handguns and up to two long guns per character, with the rest in a storage crate every vehicle has. reported The GTA 6 weapons list has every gun identified.
Getting around.reported No map-menu teleport has been shown. Previews list buses, trains, trams, taxis and the Ryde Me app as the fast-travel options, plus Scooter Bros, who bring your car to you. See how to fast travel in GTA 6.
Weather
reported No weather system has been shown in official footage. Game Informer's September 29, 2026 cover story reports, from interviews with Rockstar designers, that the studio reworked GTA 6's weather to be more localized and persistent than in past Rockstar games, with dynamic cloudscapes rolling across Leonida and storms that bring heavy rain, strong wind, dark skies, thunder and lightning, with visible water runoff. The story also covers hurricanes and tropical storms as part of that system, built to simulate Florida's less sunny side. Rockstar has not said how often storms or hurricanes occur, whether they affect missions, or whether they cause flooding or building damage, and we read this through outlet coverage of the paywalled issue, not a direct Rockstar statement. More on the Game Informer cover story.
Everything you can do besides crime
All of these appear in the Extended Look, official screenshots or Rockstar's edition copy, except where noted. official The activities directory has an entry for each.
Category
Activities shown
Sports and games
Basketball, pool, mini golf, boxing and cage fighting, backyard wrestling, an outdoor target range (walk-up shooting ranges come from previews)
Water
Scuba diving, swimming (its lung-capacity meter comes from previews), kayaking, jet skis, airboats, fishing
Air
Parachuting, BASE jumping (no piloting shown)
Racing
Street racing, stock-car racing and dirt-bike races (Postmode places the stock-car event at Ambrosia Raceway Park, a name seen on a billboard; Rockstar has not said where it runs)
Wildlife
Alligator hunting, petting and scolding dogs (per Postmode's recap; a zoo trip as a date comes from previews, not the footage)
Body
Gym, weightlifting, eating and drinking
Social
Strip clubs, bars, beach lounging while scrolling the phone, social feeds
Style
Clothing stores, tattoo parlors, salons and barbers, garage customization
What has not been shown
Flying.not announced A private jet lands at Vice City International and helicopters fly overhead, but nobody has been shown at the controls.
Prone.reported Not shown in the July previews. Crouch is in.
First-person mode.not announced No first-person mode has been shown. GTABase, a fan database, says first person is used only when aiming certain weapons; no outlet has repeated it.
Rockstar Editor.reported Not in the preview build. Photo Mode is.
Cheats.not announced None published; see GTA 6 cheats.
Trophies and achievements.not announced Neither list is out; GTA 6 trophies explains when they usually appear.
Online.official Single-player only at launch. See GTA 6 Online.
Performance mode.not announced Not announced. YouTuber Davy Jones said Nelson told preview visitors the consoles ran the game at 30 fps during development. Details on GTA 6 on PS5.
How we know all this
Three kinds of source carry this page. The Extended Look is in-game footage, so anything visible in it is confirmed as shown. The July 2026 previews at Rockstar North, where press and creators watched Rob Nelson play hands-off, are reported: reliable, but filtered through each outlet's notes. Nelson's interviews with Dazed, Famitsu and The New York Times are Rockstar staff on the record, which we also tag as reported. Material from the 2022 breach or the August 2026 leaked clips is covered on the GTA 6 leaks timeline and never used as fact here.
37 entries
Every gameplay system so far
Each system in our wiki with its status and sources. Link straight to one with its anchor, for example /gameplay/#fences.
Aiming, cover and movement
reportedsystem
Auto-aim is off by default in favor of freer aiming with a little stickiness, which you can adjust. Cover is on R1 on PlayStation, crouch lets you strafe, and shoulder switching returns from Red Dead Redemption 2.
No prone position shown
Handbrake moved to X on PlayStation; L1/R1 used for shooting while driving (preview report)
Postmode's recap of the Extended Look reports a Pet, Scold and Study menu on a dog, opened by holding R1. Petting it flashes a small angel icon, which Postmode reads as a background stat changing; Rockstar has not said which.
Postmode says the options come up by holding R1 near the dog.
KeenGamer's recap of the Extended Look also describes the Pet, Scold and Study options on a dog. From IGN's preview, it adds that animals can be studied and newly discovered species are tracked.
Engadget (Dave Meikleham, August 28), from IGN's preview: feeding one of Leonida's critters can help improve Jason's or Lucia's Criminal Profile (reported).
Jason and Lucia's bodies change with how you play them: diet shifts weight, the gym builds muscle, and lost sleep shows on their faces. It is a modern take on San Andreas's system.
Sweat after sprinting and sand sticking to shoes are shown (preview report)
Stealing a parked car is now a small job: scan it with WAINK, then open it with a slim jim, by smashing the window (which can set off the alarm) or with a key cloner for high-end models. For an occupied car, Vice reports a quick-time event to pull the driver out, and passengers may fight back.
Damage lowers resale value
Hotwiring or specialized tools depending on security
High-end cars cannot be registered as your own early in the game (Vice, from previews)
You can switch between Jason and Lucia instantly, but the story decides when: some missions lock you to one, some force a swap, and some leave it open. Rob Nelson said a switch-anytime wheel would feel unnatural for the story.
The switch buttons have not been shown on either console; Beebom's R1 line is a guess based on GTA V
The wheel in the Extended Look shows a portrait of each lead with a heart icon between them (Postmode)
Instant when both are in the scene; when they are apart, KeenGamer describes the camera crossing the map
While one drives, the other can use the phone; switch to shoot from the passenger seat
A long-term reputation tracked separately for Jason and Lucia that runs from Professional through Aggressive and Violent to Psycho. Push past Psycho and the icon cracks for the rest of that playthrough.
States: Professional, Aggressive, Violent, Psycho
Extreme acts shatter the icon permanently for the playthrough
Improves through restraint, such as robberies without needless casualties
Can affect story elements and how Vice City reacts; there is no single "correct" playstyle
Notifications can be turned off
KeenGamer: repeated unnecessary violence and chaos feed the profile, while small acts such as disposing of rubbish properly count the other way
Rob Nelson calls the number of enterable buildings enormous without giving a figure, and previews say there are hundreds. Enterable places show in blue on the map and draw a 3D floor plan when you get close.
A figure of 700 is not confirmed by Rockstar
Functional drive-thrus, barbers, hotel lobbies and rooftops are among the interiors described
Up to six icons next to the stars show what the police have on you: your face, your clothes, CCTV footage, that you were seen as a pair, your vehicle and your weapon. Each one has a counter.
Face: wear a mask or avoid witnesses
Clothing: change outfits
CCTV: destroy the footage
Duo: split Jason and Lucia up (reported to remove a full star)
Vehicle: swap cars, burn the car, respray or mod it
No map-menu teleport has been shown. Previews list buses, trains, trams, taxis, the Ryde Me app and Scooter Bros, who bring your car to you, as the quick ways around.
Rob Nelson told Famitsu you can hold a button to set a destination without opening the map; that is a route shortcut, not a teleport
Vice's preview report lists buses, trains, trams, taxis and Ryde Me as fast-travel options
Fences buy stolen goods. Rockstar's June 24 edition copy, as TheSixthAxis reprinted it, says the local Fence accepts most stolen goods at a reasonably discounted rate. Previews add specialist fences, unlocked through the story: Vice lists cars, drugs and jewelry. GTABase, a fan database, adds marked cash and contraband (rumor).
Story can gate some progress behind fencing (preview report)
A longer version of the June 24 press copy, reprinted by TheSixthAxis, says the local Fence will accept most stolen goods at a reasonably discounted rate; the line is not on rockstargames.com/VI (reported)
GTABase, a fan database, also lists specialist fences for marked cash and contraband (rumor)
Garages in the Vintage Vice City Pack and Ultimate Edition include a secure drop for goods to be fenced (Rockstar)
Focus is a stat and an ability: it slows time while aiming, highlights weak points and vehicle parts like tires and gas tanks, and shows police through walls. Aiming at red points kills and yellow points incapacitate.
Also highlights opportunities in the world without map markers
Vehicles use fuel: previews report that holding R2 for about ten seconds at a gas station refuels and that stations also repair. Vice adds that fuel is not meant to keep interrupting play. Motorcycle fuel and electric charging come only from a fan database so far.
Matters most for random getaway cars (preview report, Vice)
Rockstar acknowledged fuel is divisive among fans (Vice)
GTABase, a fan database, adds that motorcycles use fuel and electric cars charge at chargers; no outlet we checked repeats it (rumor)
Garages can be bought and expand how many personal vehicles you can keep. Both edition garages add a weapon locker and a drop point for stolen goods.
Personal vehicles also store your weapon loadout
Rob Nelson told Famitsu you can register a stolen car as your own, but early on you have room for only three vehicles; buying garages around the map lets you own more (reported).
Hit markers change color in the Extended Look. What each color means comes from previews: Vice reports white for a hit, yellow when the target is incapacitated and red for a kill.
Marker colors shown on screen (Extended Look); their meanings are reported by outlets, not stated by Rockstar
Focus highlights weak points: red targets are lethal, yellow ones can incapacitate (Vice)
No outlet ties the marker colors to the Criminal Profile
GTABase's preview roundup says cash from bank robberies can come out marked, so it has to be cleaned by a specialized fence before you spend it. No outlet we checked repeats it, so it stays a rumor.
Money comes in three forms: cash in your pocket, the balance in a joint bank account, and stolen goods in a duffel bag that only become money once a fence buys them.
Cash on hand can be lost if you die or get busted (Rob Nelson to Famitsu; Vice)
Deposit cash at ATMs into the joint account
GTABase, a fan database, says bank-job cash can come out marked and need a specialist fence (rumor)
Money can temporarily gate story progress, which pushes you toward robberies (preview report)
The weapon wheel shows cash and bank readouts
Whether the duffel bag of goods survives death or arrest has not been reported
Pedestrians get Red Dead Redemption 2-style options such as greet, antagonize, defuse or rob. The button has not been confirmed. Crowds react to a drawn gun, and some NPCs carry weapons and fight back.
Weapons holster automatically in crowds
Civilians tolerate holstered guns but fear drawn ones (preview report)
Postmode calls it the L2 interaction system; the button has not been confirmed
Pay 'n' Spray repairs your car, changes its basic color and clears the vehicle heat police have on it. Mod shops handle deeper changes.
Vice (September 5): Pay 'n' Sprays repair vehicles, change their basic color and remove vehicle Heat.
Rob Nelson told Famitsu you can repair and repaint cars there to escape Heat, but only the basic color; elaborate paint jobs need a tuning shop (reported).
Nelson: the phone's car scan shows in advance what registering a car at Pay 'n' Spray would cost, and you can check a stolen car's sale value there before taking it to a fence. After selling one, you cannot bring another car to the same Pay 'n' Spray for a while (reported).
Rockstar has said more is coming on the game's dynamic score and "the next evolution of in-game radio"; no stations are officially named yet. Previews report the radio wheel is gone, stations are scrolled one at a time, and podcasts sit in a separate on-demand menu.
Rockstar statement with the album announcement, September 17, 2026
Radio wheel removed (preview report)
On-demand podcasts (preview report)
Station names reported so far come from leaked footage and are listed as rumors
Jason and Lucia's bond is tracked as a set of states rather than a visible meter, shaped by dates, texting and time together. Vice reports that relationship choices may affect how parts of the story unfold; Rockstar has not said how much.
Romance is optional; ignoring it never removes a character
Vice names the zoo, kayaking and beach walks as dates, and a later Vice roundup says a gym visit together can turn into one; texting, hand-holding and saying goodnight count too
Vice says the romance can drift if you ignore it; GTABase, a fan database, adds that ignored messages wear it down (rumor)
A heart icon sits between the two portraits on the character wheel (Postmode)
Almost any business can be robbed, from convenience stores and payday lenders to jewelry stores, banks, armored vans and gang compounds, alongside full story heists. Each place has its own layout, cameras and safe, and the staff may fight back.
Convenience-store robberies are not marked on the map; you start them yourself
A safe can be blown open fast, damaging some of the valuables, or opened with a combination you find for a bigger take (IGN's preview, via KeenGamer)
Police may cover the exits (preview report)
TroisCouleurs watched two store robberies and neither played out the same way (Vice)
Safehouses cannot be bought; the story hands them to you, and hideouts change from chapter to chapter because the couple is on the run. They are interactive: eat, take out the trash, shave at the mirror.
The story is split into chapters (Rob Nelson via Famitsu)
Leonida Keys is the starting area (Rob Nelson via Famitsu)
Loot from robberies sits in a duffel bag and cannot be spent until you sell it to a fence who deals in that kind of goods. How much you can carry depends on the vehicle.
Bikes carry little; cars, vans and trucks carry progressively more (preview report)
Higher-end cars carry trackers in tiers. The strongest stay quiet while you drive fast but start beeping and report your position if you slow down; car fences can remove them as you progress.
GTA 6 has a six-star wanted level, one more than GTA V and the same ceiling as GTA IV. Crimes only draw police once someone reports them, an alarm goes off or a tracked car gives you away.
Crimes need a witness call, an alarm or a vehicle tracker alert before police respond (preview report)
Police are not shown on the minimap; use Focus to spot them through walls (reported)
Police set perimeters around robbed places and may warn an armed player before escalating (preview report)
Every police car has a tracker, so police cars make poor getaway vehicles (preview report)
At the highest level police search the entire map (preview report); what a six-star response looks like has not been shown
A surrender option has only come up in leak coverage and is not listed as fact
Four star looks are visible in the Extended Look: solid white, flashing, red and hollow. Rockstar has not explained them, and outlets read them differently.
Solid white: police can see you (GameSpot, Vice); Beebom reads it as police having your description
Flashing: you broke line of sight (GameSpot, Vice); Beebom reads it as police not knowing exactly how you look
Red: out of sight but inside the search area (Vice); Beebom says the red zone covers the whole map at six stars
Hollow: a crime was reported with no suspect description (all three agree)
Previews report that each character always has two concealed handguns and can carry up to two long guns, only one of them on the back. The rest go in a storage crate every vehicle has.
What to do next: the GTA 6 how-to guides turn these systems into steps for launch night on November 19, and we will update them with real button prompts once the game is out. To see what changed from the last game, system by system, read the full GTA 6 vs GTA 5 comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Has any GTA 6 gameplay been shown officially?
Yes. "Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look" is 26 minutes 48 seconds of gameplay that premiered on Netflix on August 27, 2026, then went to YouTube. It shows driving, gunfights, robberies, police chases, phone apps, character switching and dozens of activities. In July 2026 press and creators also watched Rob Nelson play at Rockstar North, hands-off, in sessions that ran from 30 minutes to about 2.5 hours depending on the outlet.
Is GTA 6 open world from the start?
Not fully answered. Rob Nelson told Famitsu the story runs in chapters and starts in the Leonida Keys, that new areas are filled in on the map as you unlock them, and that unexplored parts stay hidden until you visit them. Which regions are locked, and until when, has not been said.
Can you fly planes and helicopters in GTA 6?
Not shown. Airliners, helicopters, a blimp and a private jet appear in the footage, and parachuting and BASE jumping are shown, but nobody has been shown piloting an aircraft. GTA V let you fly both, so most players expect it.
Can you customize Jason and Lucia in GTA 6?
Their look, yes; who they are, no. They are fixed characters, and nothing Rockstar has shown includes a character creator for the story. Outfits are in, and previews report that you can cut your hair shorter at a safehouse, that growing it longer takes a barber, and that diet and the gym change their bodies. The Ultimate Edition adds a salon with facial hair for Jason and makeup and nails for Lucia, a tattoo parlor and a streetwear store. A character creator for a future online mode has not been announced.
Does GTA 6 have first-person mode?
No first-person mode has been shown. Rockstar has only shown the game in third person. GTABase, a fan database, says in its preview recap that there is no first-person mode and that first person is used only when aiming certain weapons, but no outlet has repeated that, so treat it as rumor. GTA V added first person in 2014, so it could still come later.
Is there online multiplayer at launch?
No. At Take-Two's September 17, 2026 annual meeting, Strauss Zelnick said GTA 6 launches as a single-player game. A new online mode later is reported but not announced. See the GTA 6 Online page for every statement so far.
What changed on this page
Added a weather section: Game Informer's September 29 cover story reports Rockstar reworked the weather system to be more localized and persistent, with hurricanes and tropical storms.
Added a customization section on clothes, hair, tattoos and body changes, with the Ultimate Edition shops, and linked the trophy list tracker and the GTA 6 vs GTA 5 comparison.
Removed an unsourced line about bus stops on the minimap, stopped placing the stock-car racing at Ambrosia Raceway Park as fact (that link is Postmode's reading), and dated Postmode's recap August 28.
Rechecked every source and status tag, marked which activities come from previews, added a directory of every gameplay system, credited the dog Pet, Scold and Study menu to Postmode's recap, and added Rob Nelson's line that new areas fill in on the map as you unlock them.
