After a 2026 delay,Grand Theft Auto 6was given a second trailer. It teases a bit more about the environments, heists, and side activities, while introducing new characters and giving a glimpse at the story beats for Jason and Lucia’s narrative. With all of this information now available, many fans are circulating some new theories about what potentially awaits you in GTA 6.
Most of these theories are quite imaginative and wild, while others you can see Rockstar implementing. Whether it’s connections to past games, familiar maps, potential plot twists and character theories, or things tied to various systems and mechanics that might potentially be explored, here’s how probable these ideas from fans could be.
10A Connection To GTA 5 Via Michael’s Yacht
One of the more far-fetched theories from the second GTA 6 trailer has to do with a boat seen on Jason’s property. Eagle-eyed fans were quick to notice a yacht-type vessel suspended in the driveway of Jason’s home while he was interacting with Brian, and they suspected this could very well be Michael De Santa’s yacht from GTA 5.
You might recall the infamous mission in GTA 5, Father/Son, where Michael’s son, Jimmy, tried to sell his dad’s yacht, which ends up getting stolen with him still on board. You’re able to recover Jimmy, but not the boat, and since the two models look the same, maybe Jason was the mastermind behind the theft? However, it seems more likely that Rockstar is simply reusing assets.
9The ‘Real’ Phil Cassidy Now Appearing In The Game
An even wilder theory about GTA 6 is thatPhil Cassidy from GTA: Vice City and GTA 3was a fictional movie version of his character, and that GTA 6 will now feature the real Phil Cassidy, who banks on his name and image from his film career to open up an actual gun store, Phil’s Ammu-Nation. The main basis for this is that in GTA: Vice City, Phil lost an arm, whereas in the GTA 6 commercial, he still has both arms.
3D universe games, like GTA 3, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas, existing as fictional movies within the HD universe, sounds a bit absurd. GTA 6 also can’t be a prequel, sinceVice City was already set in the ’80s. Some also theorize it may even be Phil’s son, Phil Jr., but either way, all of these theories feel funky, and it could just be the new version of Phil retconned for the HD universe, or an old ad re-run on TV, or maybe just an Easter egg used solely for the trailer.
8An In-Game Console Where You Can Play Games
The second trailer also gives you a look inside Jason’s living quarters, where you will instantly spot a video game console with a white exterior, a blue glow along its interior, and a similar shape to a PS5. On the table, a controller resembles a DualShock. This could be set dressing to complement Jason’s lifestyle, but many are now under the impression that Rockstar hasa game-within-a-game conceptin store.
Games like Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us series have PlayStation consoles as Easter eggs, while in Uncharted 4, you can actually play some Crash Bandicoot as Nathan Drake. The Yakuza series also allows you to play various arcade games and Sega titles in-universe. GTA 6 delivering a functional video game console to play in-universe video games, or even past GTA titles, as some suspect, would be next-level meta.
7Tommy Vercetti Appearing As A Character In GTA 6
Since we return to Vice City in GTA 6, it’s on everyone’s mind whether Tommy Vercetti, the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, would return in some capacity, maybe even just for a cameo. One location that was teased throughout the trailers and promotional material is the Ocean View Hotel, the iconic spot that served as your first safe house in GTA: Vice City.
But even better than a cameo would be to see Tommy appear as a side character for some of the missions. After all, he did become a major kingpin at the end of Vice City. Sadly, Tommy’s original voice actor,legendary actor Ray Liotta of Goodfellas fame, is no longer with us, so finding a replacement would be a tough call. But we have seen it before with Keith David taking over the role of Destiny’s Zavala for the late Lance Reddick.
670 Percent Enterable Buildings
We want to enter every building in GTA 6, but hey, if the theory is that only 70 percent of the places you see within the gigantic map of Leonida, then we’ll still settle for that. This prediction of 70 percent arose from the rumors of a TikTok leaker and Rockstar’s patent for ‘Interiors AI’ to potentially help create procedurally generated interiors of buildings.
GTA 5 made some improvements to the places you could and couldn’t enter, but GTA 6 has the opportunity to truly make its open world feel open. The cityscapes across all the main regions are sprawling with buildings and establishments you want to check out, including a basketball stadium arena, motels, gas stations, restaurants, gym areas, random homes and offices, and underground cage fighting clubs and nightclubs, in addition to the standard strip clubs.
5Jason Being An Undercover Cop Or A Third Playable Police Officer Protagonist
Rockstar is known for its plot twists and betrayals, whether it be the Red Dead Redemption or Grand Theft Auto series, and many are now thinkingthat Jason might secretly be a cop. Both trailers tease that there will be some gameplay involving police, due to the body-cam raid footage and a mysterious new character who looks like a lead detective or sergeant on the force speaking to an unknown character.
Jason is also recognized by a correctional officer when picking up Lucia from prison, and acts like he’s got the wrong guy. That might be the case, but then there’s also the theory, if Jason isn’t the cop, then perhaps Rockstar is hiding a third playable character who is affiliated with law enforcement. Either way, that would be an interesting direction for the series, and I would love it if it went there.
One of the screenshots released for Jason’s character on Rockstar’s page shows him using an M16 military-grade rifle and dressed in more tactical clothing, which further fuels the suspicions.
4Liberty City Appearing In GTA 6
It now looks a lot more likely that you might be headed back to Liberty City in GTA 6. Liberty City is the map from GTA 3, GTA 4, and Liberty City Stories, which is essentially the Grand Theft Auto version of New York, as GTA 6’s Leonida is to Florida. And in the second trailer for GTA 6, there’s a transport vehicle getting robbed that has a Liberty City license plate.
Sure, you could say that because Liberty City exists in the universe, the car just has an out-of-state license plate, but then the theory becomes stronger when you read Lucia’s bio from the Rockstar page. It reveals that Lucia was raised in Liberty City by her mom, so maybe a mission where you play a flashback of Lucia, or even a cutscene of Lucia and her mom in Liberty City, would be a reality in GTA 6.
3A Relationship System For Jason And Lucia
Romance is a major element of GTA 6, considering the main protagonists area Bonnie and Clyde-style couple. From the trailer alone, you see the passion between Jason and Lucia, but some theorize that their relationship will be a mechanic in the game that you can build based on your decisions and dialogue choices, like what’s standard in an RPG.
As a mechanic, this would be rather basic for Rockstar to implement compared to other, more complex systems. And were they to go this route, the GTA series would officially lean more like an RPG than just a third-person shooteropen-world crime game. They already have the Honor system in Red Dead Redemption 2, so I could see this as a step up from that for tackling the romantic relationship between the protagonists.
2Cryptocurrency Economy
This one seems very likely, especially given thatGTA’s sole purpose is to satirizeand provide social commentary on current events in the US. Meme coins and cryptocurrency are big things, and their coming into the economy of GTA 6 wouldn’t be a surprise at all. Cryptocurrency, especially in America, is quickly becoming the future.
You can already see missions where you’re asked to commit cryptocurrency scams by ripping off people with fake meme coins. Crypto is a big part of culture right now, so expect it to be a part of the digital economy of GTA 6, in some capacity. There are even rumors that real-life purchases with cryptocurrency in GTA 6 might be implemented.Streamer Adin Ross is even working on a serverwhere you can get paid with crypto coins.
1An Immersive Social Media System
One of the more obvious theories that’s all but confirmed is the heavy presence of a social media mechanic in the game. In fact, fans believe that Rockstar will satirize it so much that you’ll be putting hours into the game just by scrolling through your fictional social media feed as Jason or Lucia, like you would in real life as yourself (if you can’t stay off your phone).
Phones are an important mechanic in the GTA games, even from the earliest entries. It’s one of the features that gets iterated on to be more realistic as the series evolves, and this time, you could almost guarantee to see a fake GTA-universe social media app there. The trailers show various incidents being live-streamed on a social media platform, and then you have the rap duo, Real Dimez, who boast “a relentless social media presence” and base their platform on going viral.
Some fans are even under the impression that random NPCs might live-stream your actions, where you could end up viral on social media as a satire of cancel culture, or even potentially go the route of building a platform and becoming a social media influencer.
