GTA VI's setting and release date: the confirmed basics

Where is it set, and when does it come out? For Grand Theft Auto VI, both answers are official — no reading between the lines required.

Verdict: Confirmed: GTA VI is set in the state of Leonida, with Vice City at its center, and releases 19 November 2026. Pre-orders opened 25 June 2026. Every one of these facts comes straight from Rockstar's own channels.

The setting: Leonida, anchored by Vice City

The game plays out in the fictional state of Leonida, with Vice City — Rockstar's neon, Art-Deco take on a Florida metropolis — as its centerpiece. That has been official since the reveal, stated in Rockstar's own announcement rather than pieced together from footage or reports.

The confirmed setting is a name and a description, not a map. Rockstar has not published the world's layout or size, and we don't fill that silence with fan-made reconstructions — the state's officially named regions get their own briefing.

The date: 19 November 2026

Rockstar has officially scheduled GTA VI for 19 November 2026. The date has history: an earlier official date of 26 May 2026 was moved back to the current one. Both the move and the current date come from Rockstar directly, which is why we treat 19 November 2026 as settled — and why we'd need another official announcement, not a retailer listing or a countdown, to treat it as changed. The full date-by-date chronology is its own briefing.

Pre-orders: open since 25 June 2026

On 18 June 2026 Rockstar announced that pre-orders would open on 25 June 2026, and revealed the game's official cover art in the same announcement. That date has now passed: pre-orders are open. The announcement covered the opening date and the cover art — nothing in it laid out edition tiers or pricing, so we don't either.

Where this stands

Setting, date, and an open pre-order window: three first-party facts, each traceable to Rockstar's own channels. That short list is the foundation the rest of the record builds on — most other GTA VI questions are still somewhere between inference and open silence, and we keep them labeled that way.

What changes this: An official Rockstar announcement moving the release date, or new official material expanding the setting. Nothing short of that moves these facts.