The publicity everyone has been waiting for is finally here. The 26-minute extended trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 is live on Netflix right now. If you have a subscription and can get away from work, school or whatever for a nice half hour, be sure to check it out and see what a group of Scottish video game developers really think about living in Florida.
Netflix is the exclusive home of Grand Theft Auto VI: An Expanded Preview for six hours on Thursday, August 27, starting at 3 p.m. ET. And then at 9 p.m. ET, the trailer will go live on the Rockstar Games YouTube channel for everyone to dissect.
In the meantime, here’s an overview of what GTA6 the extended look has to offer:
First, the general setup. GTA6 takes place in Leonida, a fictionalized version of Florida, and follows Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, a Bonnie and Clyde-style duo who stumble upon a statewide conspiracy after botching a bank heist. The game’s map includes Vice City, the Leonida Keys (including fake Miami), numerous swamps, at least one national park, and a seaside port. You play as Jason and Lucia at different points in the game, and this is the first time the series has featured a non-optional female protagonist.
We begin with Jason and Lucia picking up at a dealership in a rundown apartment complex lined with suspicious security guards, people hanging out in common areas, and at least one pet dog. Playing Jason, the duo find their contact in a room where people are busy making crack, clad in underwear and masks, mixing, mashing and cooking in the background. Their contact, Ray, has thick dreads, a chest full of tattoos, and two heavy gold chains, and the lighting hits every detail differently, filtering through his locks and making his jewelry shine. Environmental details in GTA6 are rich, indeed.
But damn, it’s a raid. The cops burst in and the action begins, with Jason in the lead. Jason crouches behind a table with a pistol and cleanly takes out a few enemies followed by Lucia. They head down the hallway and continue shooting people, Jason hot swapping a shotgun if necessary. The two men joke as they run away, eventually ending up in the apartment of a sweet old lady and jumping out of the window.
Cue a quick intro montage, then Jason and Lucia relax at home. Lucia’s hair is the real narrator here, changing with each new scenario, letting us know that time has passed. Her hair was braided and pulled back in the first scene, but is now wound into a messy, loose bun. They’re getting ready to go out and doing cute couple things in their cozy, well-decorated apartment. Jason wanders around the space, watches some silly commercials on TV, and they leave when Lucia is prepared and dressed in a tight pink cocktail dress. They drive off in an old-fashioned red convertible, chatting while Depeche Mode comes on the radio.
In another montage, Lucia reloads a shotgun with one hand, throws it into the air, lifts it and catches it in the same palm. A later series of scenes show Lucia in a short blonde wig, tied up next to Jason as they struggle to escape. They find old friends who offer them dangerous jobs. There are numerous sequences of Jason and Lucia robbing small stores and convenience stores, with bandanas over their mouths and guns. And of course, they steal a car or two.
At one point, Lucia wears a sick leather jacket with a skeleton sewn into the back — and, yes, you can see that it’s sewn, the lines of texture and the fabric bubbling around the bones.
In a new scene, Lucia and Jason pick up a runaway guy and flee with Lucia behind the wheel. Red and blue lights on their tails, Jason sits in the back seat and begins shooting an automatic rifle out the back window, taking out helicopters and police cars. Here you can clearly see six stars at the top right of the screen, signaling a return to the classic maximum search level.
The perspective eventually changes for Lucia, who is on a mission to prove she can handle this life, and as a driver, she manages to evade the authorities while Jason and their contact continue shooting. They set the car on fire, get into a van and disappear.
In another montage, Jason and Lucia ride a fan boat, go to clubs, throw an influencer in their trunk and even base jump.
The final setting features Lucia in a sleek black bob and Jason in a casual suit, preparing to board a private plane. They provide security for an important man at a corporate gala, and they go their separate ways. We follow Jason, Lucia in his headset, as he finds his target waiting in line with friends in a dark office, far from the party. Gunshots ring out on every level of the building, obviously. Jason crouches behind boxes, desks, and corners, shooting enemies as they appear. He activates bullet time, adding red and yellow spots to his target and giving him time to line up a good shot. Meanwhile, an unarmed Lucia fights off an attacker by stabbing him in the eye with her heel, then she is slammed into an elevator shaft.
The final edit begins. Its highlight is a little chihuahua dressed in a purple tutu with little fairy wings, but it features scenes from all over Leonida.
The extended look ends with a note that it was captured on a standard PS5. It’s difficult to judge its graphical fidelity and framerate from a low-bitrate Netflix stream, but GTA VI appears to hold 30 frames per second for the majority of frames shown. All in all, it seems like a fun place to be.
