👀 We could see the GTA 6 trailer in a matter of weeks
🤔 Previous Rockstar releases indicate that it should have already dropped by now, suggesting it’s coming soon
📅 An early August release date would also just happen to link to when Take-Two’s next earnings call is expected to be
🌴 GTA 6’s third trailer is expected to focus more on the gameplay, which we’ve still yet to see
It’s the question that’s been on every Grand Theft Auto fan’s mind for far too long: when is GTA 6 trailer 3 coming out?
We recently got some new GTA 6 gameplay details from a surprising source, but Rockstar itself has remained tight-lipped about what to expect from the next GTA title. Even the two trailers we’ve seen don’t feature any raw gameplay, but that hasn’t stopped millions from pre-ordering the game.
Thankfully, for those who are waiting to see more before they place their GTA 6 pre-order, the likelihood is it’s probably coming soon. With the release date of November 19, 2026, fast approaching, history suggests the third trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI isn’t far away.
Looking back at the past
We can narrow down when the GTA 6 trailer 3 will drop by looking back at when Rockstar released equivalent trailers for its other big game releases.
Rockstar has released two big games in the last fifteen years, making it nice and easy: Red Dead Redemption 2 and, of course, GTA 5.
Red Dead Redemption’s third trailer launched on May 2, 2018, which was just under six months out from its eventual October 28, 2018 release date. By that logic, we should have seen the long-awaited third trailer for GTA 6 by now.
For GTA 5, the third trailer released on April 30, 2013, just under five months out from the game’s September 17, 2013 release date.
Using these as a guide, we could see the GTA 6 third trailer within weeks, potentially in late July or early August, as that would line up for around four to five months out from the game’s release date.
For reference, Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson has said he expects the third trailer in early August based on his sources, so it could well be about right.
For what it’s worth, the first Red Dead Redemption 2 gameplay trailer didn’t launch until some 85 days before the game was released, as TechRadar has noted. Using this as a guide also lines up with the early August theory – which just so happens to be around the expected time of Take-Two Interactive’s next earnings call.
What could the third trailer include?
The third trailer we’re likely to see for GTA 6 should be focused on gameplay, if the other two games are used as a case study. Rockstar seems to like using the first trailer to set the scene for the game’s environment, while the second one digs into the story a little more.
After the third trailer, expect some more videos about Jason and Lucia as characters, plus a further potential trailer for GTA Online for GTA 6 that may release a few weeks after the November 19 release date for GTA 6.
Up next: GTA 6 PC release date: when will the next Grand Theft Auto come to Steam?
Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.