I want more of whatever spice Rockstar put in the GTA 6 cinematic trailer

Rockstar announced Friday that its highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 — widely projected to be the biggest game of the year in whatever year it comes out — is delayed to May 26, 2026. But! There’s also a brand new trailer out today, and it is incredibly promising.

The cinematic trailer opens to a very GTA sequence: a hot man with ridiculous abs doing manual labor in the Florida-like state he soon drives around while listening to nice ’80s music on the radio. It deftly sweeps through the outlines of a plot: The protagonist picks up his lady from prison, and then they get (back?) to their hot wet life of crime. It seems like main characters Lucia and Jason will thrive at times, but some scenes also show Lucia in a construction vest, flopping onto the couch with Jason after what I can only assume is a long day of community service after her prison time. No matter what they’re doing, though, the on-screen chemistry of this entirely animated couple is palpable — and that’s pretty impressive for a cinematic video game trailer.

Rockstar “has always had the juice,” as our deputy editor Maddy Myers put it to me in a Slack message — but we agreed that GTA 6 looks especially amazing based on this trailer. It’s the music and the scenery, of course — hallmarks of the franchise — but it’s also a downright beautifully edited trailer that is perfectly poised to get fans excited despite the fact it’ll be over a year before they can play the game.

Take the moment you meet Lucia. The prison guard asks Jason if he’s been in before. Jason pauses meaningfully, says maybe, and then it cuts to Lucia and Jason saying hi to each other. A few seconds later, they’re rolling around in bed. A couple seconds after that, Lucia’s hair is up to accommodate her ski mask as she and Jason rob what looks like a bank. Then bed again. Then drinking Modelos on a pier, laughing about the time Jason broke Lucia’s nose. Excuse me!!? Hot, scary, and maybe even… true love?

Of course, I’m assuming this whole nose-breaking incident was an accident. If Rockstar decides to go the domestic violence route with its protagonist in a post-#MeToo world, uh… yeah. The franchise’s track record for treating women characters well is problematic. But Lucia seems genuinely promising, and no matter what happens in the game itself, it’s undeniable this trailer is a feat of editing and allure. There are tons of details to pore through, but for me, I’ll just be here trying to find that gold dress IRL.