GTA 6 vs GTA 5: Everything That Is Confirmed to Change
GTA 6 against GTA 5 on setting, leads, platforms, price, editions, map, online and timing, with each GTA 6 line from Rockstar and reports labeled.
Last checked: Oct 12 2026. GTA VI launches Nov 19 2026.
Thirteen years. That is how long GTA V has been the newest numbered Grand Theft Auto. On Nov 19 2026 it finally hands over. So what is actually different? Not what fans hope, not what a leak showed, but what Rockstar has put in writing.
Our GTA VI page already sets the two games' official wording side by side: the synopsis, the rating box, the reveal-to-launch run-up. This page takes the buyer's and player's angle instead. It compares the things you deal with on day one: what you pay, which editions exist, what hardware it runs on, where it sits in its console generation, what online looks like, and how long the wait was. Anything Rockstar has not said is marked REPORT, with the outlet.
At a glance
| Item | GTA V | GTA VI |
|---|---|---|
| Released | Tue Sep 17 2013 | Thu Nov 19 2026 (announced) |
| Launch platforms | PS3, Xbox 360 | PS5, Xbox Series X|S |
| Setting | Los Santos and Blaine County, San Andreas | Vice City and the state of Leonida |
| Leads | Michael, Franklin, Trevor | Jason Duval, Lucia Caminos |
| Online at launch | GTA Online, 14 days later | None announced; "a single player experience" |
| Base US price | $59.99 (PS3, PlayStation Store) | $79.99 |
What is counted, and how
GTA V facts come from our GTA V, GTA VI and price and deals pages and the Take-Two filings and Rockstar pages they cite, plus a 2013 PlayStation Blog store post we opened on Oct 12 2026. GTA VI facts come only from Rockstar pages, Take-Two filings and the PlayStation and Xbox listings, re-read on Oct 12 2026. Console launch dates come from Sony's own press releases. We use PlayStation dates only, because we did not open Microsoft's equivalent releases.
The arithmetic, shown once:
- GTA IV (Apr 29 2008) to GTA V (Sep 17 2013): 1,967 days, or 5 years, 4 months and 19 days.
- GTA V (Sep 17 2013) to GTA VI (Nov 19 2026): 4,811 days, or 13 years, 2 months and 2 days.
- GTA V to PS4 launch in the US (Nov 15 2013): 59 days later.
- PS5 US launch (Nov 12 2020) to GTA VI: 2,198 days, or 6 years and 7 days.
- Price: $79.99 minus $59.99 is $20.00, which is 33.3 percent more.
Left out: leaked footage, map sizes, first-person claims and preview impressions. They are not Rockstar's word.
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The side-by-side
This is the table no other page on the site has. It lines up the two games on the things that decide how you buy and play.
| Item | GTA V (2013) | GTA VI (2026) | What changed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setting | Los Santos and Blaine County (Rockstar GTA V site) | Vice City, USA, in the state of Leonida, six named regions (rockstargames.com/VI) | A new state, and a return to Vice City | CONFIRMED |
| Protagonists | Three: Michael, Franklin and Trevor | Two: Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos | One fewer lead; GamesRadar called Lucia the series' first female protagonist | CONFIRMED (GamesRadar line is the outlet's) |
| Launch platforms | PS3, Xbox 360 | PS5, Xbox Series X|S | Two current-generation consoles | CONFIRMED |
| Place in its console generation | Launched 59 days before the PS4 reached the US | Launches 6 years and 7 days after the PS5 reached the US | From last-gen send-off to mid-generation release | CONFIRMED dates, our arithmetic |
| PC | Apr 14 2015, about 19 months later | Not announced | Same console-first start; no PC date exists | CONFIRMED (absence) |
| Base US price | $59.99 for the PS3 game on the PlayStation Store, launch day | $79.99 Standard, every first-party store | $20.00, or 33.3 percent, more | CONFIRMED |
| Editions | Standard, Special ($79.99), Collector's ($149.99) | Standard ($79.99), Ultimate ($99.99), plus a $20.00 Upgrade | Three tiers became two plus an add-on; VI's base price equals V's Special Edition | CONFIRMED |
| Physical copy | Disc (2013 retail, per our GTA VI page) | Download code in a box, no disc (Rockstar Store) | No disc at all | CONFIRMED |
| Online | GTA Online, "free with every copy", launched Oct 1 2013 | "a single player experience"; no online mode, date or price announced | The biggest structural change | CONFIRMED |
| Map size | Not published on the pages we use | Not published by Rockstar | No official comparison exists | CONFIRMED (absence); see REPORT below |
| Announced date changes | One: spring 2013 to Sep 17 2013 | Two: 2025 to May 26 2026, then Nov 19 2026 | One more delay | CONFIRMED |
| Wait since the last numbered game | 1,967 days after GTA IV | 4,811 days after GTA V | About 2.4 times as long | Our arithmetic |
| ESRB descriptors | Seven (Rockstar GTA V site) | The same seven, word for word | No change | CONFIRMED |
| Launch weekday | Tuesday | Thursday | Different day | Calendar |
The 2.4 figure is 4,811 divided by 1,967, which is 2.446, rounded to one decimal place.
What the table tells you
The price jump is real, but it is the edition ladder that moved. GTA V's PS3 game was $59.99 on the PlayStation Store on launch day, per Sony's own store post of Sep 17 2013. GTA VI's Standard Edition is $79.99. That $79.99 was GTA V's Special Edition price in 2013. In other words, the old middle tier is the new floor. What GTA VI does not have is a top in-game tier above $99.99: no Collector's Edition with the game. Rockstar's $399.99 collector's box for VI is sold without the game (editions page).
GTA V was a send-off. GTA VI is a mid-generation launch. GTA V arrived 59 days before the PS4 reached US shelves, which is why it came back on PS4 and Xbox One a year later. GTA VI arrives six years and a week after the PS5's US launch. There is a neat coincidence too: Sony's rest-of-world PS5 launch was Nov 19 2020, so GTA VI lands exactly six years after the PS5 reached Europe. That is a calendar fact, not a Rockstar message.
Online is the change that matters most. Every GTA V buyer got GTA Online two weeks after launch, in the box. It is still running: Take-Two lists the Kortz Center Heist update on Jul 14 2026. For VI, the only official word is "a single player experience", on Rockstar's pre-order post and on both console stores. Our online mode page tracks every statement.
The map question has no official answer yet. Rockstar has published six region names and no size. Our GTA 6 map page reads Rockstar's own copy as a map.
REPORT: claims about GTA VI that Rockstar has not made
| Claim | Who reported it | Status |
|---|---|---|
| The GTA VI map is about three times Red Dead Redemption 2's | VICE, Aug 28 2026, relaying YouTuber TGG's account of a Rockstar preview | REPORT, secondhand. No Rockstar page states it |
| Vice City alone is about twice the size of GTA V's Los Santos | Same VICE report, unattributed | REPORT, unattributed |
| A GTA VI online mode will be sold separately later | TweakTown and analysts | REPORT, speculation. Rockstar has announced no online mode |
If any of these becomes official, it moves into the main table with its Rockstar source. Until then, treat them as talk. The full list is on confirmed vs rumor.
What a GTA V player should know
- Your GTA V copy keeps working. GTA Online is still updated, per Take-Two's Aug 7 2026 release. Nothing official says it ends on Nov 19.
- Nothing official carries over. Rockstar has not announced any save, character or money transfer from GTA V or GTA Online to GTA VI. That is an absence, not a denial.
- Same consoles, if you already upgraded. If you play GTA V on PS5 or Xbox Series X|S (those versions), you already own the hardware VI needs.
- Budget for the new floor. $79.99 Standard, $99.99 Ultimate in the US. Other countries are on price by country.
Still waiting? Is GTA 6 out yet has the countdown, and our desk's take on whether Ultimate is worth it is up too. Think we missed a change? Say so on the forum.
Trivia
- GTA IV, GTA V and GTA Online all launched on a Tuesday. GTA VI breaks the run with a Thursday.
- Sony's 2013 PS4 release names Nov 15 for the US and Canada and Nov 29 for Europe. Both dates fell after GTA V, so no GTA V buyer played it on PS4 at launch.
- GTA VI's Ultimate Edition, $99.99, costs exactly $40.00 more than GTA V's $59.99 PS3 game did on its launch day.
Sources and method
GTA V lines are taken from our archive pages and the primary sources they cite (Take-Two filings, Rockstar's GTA V site and videos, the 2013 PlayStation Blog). We opened the Sep 17 2013 PlayStation Store post, both Sony console press releases and the current GTA VI store listings ourselves on Oct 12 2026, using an honest research user agent. GTA VI lines are from Rockstar, Take-Two and the console stores. Reported claims sit only in the REPORT table. All day counts and percentages are our own arithmetic.
- Take-Two 10-K, May 14 2014
- Take-Two 10-K, May 22 2015
- Take-Two 8-K ex. 99.1, Oct 29 2013
- Take-Two 8-K ex. 99.1, Jun 5 2008
- Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto V site
- Rockstar Games on YouTube, Michael. Franklin. Trevor., Apr 30 2013
- Engadget, GTA 5 launches Sept. 17, Jan 31 2013
- PlayStation Blog, PlayStation Store Update, Sep 17 2013
- PlayStation Blog, GTA V Special and Collector's Editions, May 23 2013
- Sony, PS4 launch dates, Aug 21 2013
- Sony, PS5 launch dates, Sep 16 2020
- Rockstar Newswire, Nov 19 2026 date, Nov 6 2025
- Rockstar Newswire, pre-order post, Jun 24 2026
- Rockstar Games, Only in Leonida
- Xbox Store, Grand Theft Auto VI, checked Oct 12 2026
- PlayStation Store, Grand Theft Auto VI, checked Oct 12 2026
- Rockstar Store, Buy GTA VI, checked Oct 12 2026
- Take-Two Q1 FY27 earnings release, Aug 7 2026
- GamesRadar, The GTA 6 trailer is here a day early, Dec 4 2023
- VICE, GTA 6 map size, Aug 28 2026 (REPORT table only)
- TweakTown, GTA Online may be sold separately (REPORT table only)
- GTA VI Forum fact base (FACTS.md), compiled Oct 11 2026
More from the archive
- Does GTA VI Have Online? What Rockstar Has Said
- Every GTA VI Character Rockstar Has Named
- Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album, Explained
- Grand Theft Auto VI: What Rockstar Has Said, Against GTA V
- GTA 6 Gameplay Features: Everything Rockstar Has Confirmed
- GTA 6 Map: Every Leonida Region and Place Rockstar Named