GTA 6: The 4 Biggest Things We Learned After The Netflix Extended Look

“Grand Theft Auto 6” is the biggest and most-anticipated game release in a decade, at least. Despite a reported budget of more than $1 billion, it’s expected to make money back for developer Rockstar and publisher Take-Two Interactive in a matter of days. There’s also a reasonable case to be made for “Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look” being the biggest game trailer release of all time. It’s certainly the first trailer to get a six-hour exclusive run on Netflix (with some stray Twitch streamers thrown in for good measure) before debuting on YouTube and other platforms.

There’s plenty to see for yourself, so if you’re at all interested it’s well worth spending 26 minutes and 49 seconds to take a look ahead of “Grand Theft Auto 6” release on November 19. But, we spotted a bunch of things you may not notice at first glance, and we also dove through several interviews Rockstar gave — timed for the trailer’s release, of course — to pull out the things you need to know about “GTA 6.”

We had a suspicion that this would be the case, but thanks to some media work Rockstar executives did around the extended look’s release, we can better quantify what that means. Speaking with YouTuber TGG, Rockstar co-studio head Rob Nelson claimed that the game’s map is twice the size of the “GTA 5” map, and three times the size of the “Red Dead Redemption 2” map. As for Vice City, TGG said, “Vice City itself is twice the size of Los Santos. And Vice City and its [surrounding suburbs] is 11 times bigger than Los Santos and its [surrounding suburbs].”

This is all obviously a far cry from the maps of multi-planetary games like “No Man’s Sky” and “Starfield,” but Rockstar’s games are on a different level to those when it comes to density and unique touches. A giant planet with a couple of buildings vs. a large portion of the state of Florida (sorry, Leonida), isn’t the fairest comparison to make.

We also got a clue as to just how long “Grand Theft Auto 6” is. In a different interview with The New York Times, Nelson told games journalist Christopher Byrd that he spent 80 hours playing through the main story and a handful of optional goals. Your mileage may vary, but that’s a much longer time than the average player logged completing “Grand Theft Auto 5,” according to the site How Long to Beat.

It wouldn’t be a modern Grand Theft Auto without minigames, and we spotted multiple new options in the extended look. We knew from earlier leaks that basketball was going be an option, but during the 27-minute trailer Rockstar showed off at least six other activities.

Vice City has always had a dirt track, so the inclusion of off-road races isn’t a huge surprise, but the brief snippet shows dirtbikes and ATVs racing alongside trucks. There’s an even-more-brief segment where we see a Fast and Furious-style street race, full of exotic imports, neon underglow mods and, of course, nitrous boosts.

There even appears to be a professional series on a full-blown race track inspired by real circuits. In the trailer we see a multi-lap race with track-modified sedans and souped-up muscle cars decked out in (pretty silly) sponsored liveries. There are open-wheel racing series in “GTA Online” and figure-8 racing events in “San Andreas,” but this latest addition looks impressive, to say the least. 

Finally, while we didn’t see any jet ski races in the trailer, the vehicles do feature prominently, so we wouldn’t be surprised if that’s an option come November 19. If racing isn’t your speed, there seem to be a handful of less adrenaline-fueled activities on offer, including kayaking, diving, weight lifting and target practice challenges.

We still don’t have a full rundown on the fine details of the “GTA 6” combat system, but we did learn a lot from the extended look.

One big quality-of-life improvement coming is swapping between two firearms on the fly. The weapon wheel is still there, but around 18 and a half minutes in, you can see co-protagonist Lucia on a target range switching between a rifle and a pistol without needing to pull up the wheel.

Bullet time — which was an ability locked to Michael De Santa in “GTA V” — is confirmed to be making a return, at least for Jason. While he clears an office space of goons, we see him slow down time and a new vital targeting system. Some areas are lit up in red and appear to be indicating lethal shots, while others in a pale yellow are centered on joints and may be there for you to incapacitate someone in a less-lethal way. Oh, and there’s even a killcam straight out of “Max Payne 3” in one scene.

One perhaps pointless but very cool addition is the ability to wield certain weapons in one hand. In one scene, Lucia is carrying a duffel bag in one arm and a shotgun in the other. She’s able to both fire and rack her shotgun without skipping a beat. Those are some strong forearms. And ribs, for that matter.

Going all the way back to 1997’s “Grand Theft Auto,” you’ve been able to break into any car and, with the press of a button, magically hot-wire it. Those days are over. Around six minutes into the trailer, we see Jason attempting to steal a car and a “Slim Jim” minigame where the player has to time their inputs to get into the car using a slide tool.

According Rockstar, that’s just one of the new layers of complexity to the grand theft auto of “GTA 6.” Speaking with IGN, Nelson (the same co-studio head who spoke with TGG) gave a few interesting examples: Vehicles with electronic key fobs may require a key cloner, while cars with GPS tracking enabled might require you to drive below a certain speed threshold to avoid triggering an alarm.

Apparently there’ll be an in-game app on the protagonists’ cellphones that will let you scan a car to discover what security features are optioned. “Grand Theft Auto VI” has a number of new rides and returning classics, and it sounds like many will require a different approach to steal. The app will also reveal how much money you can make selling it or how much it’ll cost to file down those VINs add it to your collection.