A few weeks remain until release. That is enough to finish one or two games — the trick is choosing the right ones.
How we chose
GTA 6 is not tied to any earlier story: the series has no continuous plot, and you do not need to play anything to understand it. So we were not picking “required preparation” but games that show where GTA 6’s ideas come from and help you get more out of it.
Playtimes are approximate, for the main story without side content, based on community averages.
Red Dead Redemption 2
About 50 hours. The most useful game on the list.
RDR2 is Rockstar’s latest big single-player game and the best guide to how GTA 6 will feel. This is where the studio pushed world detail to the limit, along with how passers-by react to the hero’s behaviour and the honour system that shapes dialogue and the ending.
According to leaks and descriptions, much of this will carry over to GTA 6 — from interactions with pedestrians to a system in which your actions change the relationship between Jason and Lucia. We covered that in our piece on the leads. If you play only one game, make it RDR2.
GTA V
About 30 hours.
The closest ancestor in terms of mechanics. Three leads you switch between, big heists with planning and a choice of approach, a huge map of city and countryside — GTA 6 builds on all of it rather than starting over.
The heists are especially worth playing: Raul Bautista’s profile and the trailers make it clear that big jobs will be central again. GTA V also shows well how Rockstar mocks the present day — the jokes about social media and tech were there long before GTA 6.
GTA: Vice City
About 15–20 hours. The shortest and most atmospheric.
The same city, only in 1986. Vice City helps you see exactly what has come back: the waterfront with its deco hotels, the bridges, the swamps on the outskirts, the theme of money and fame. It is also the best demonstration of why radio matters so much in GTA.
You can play the original on PC or the 2021 Definitive Edition on current consoles. The remaster had serious problems at launch, but patches fixed a lot. More in our piece on Vice City through the series.
GTA: San Andreas
About 30 hours.
The only game in the series before GTA 6 whose map was an entire state — three cities, villages, forests and desert, with real roads in between. Leonida is the first state rather than a metropolis since San Andreas, and the comparison will be interesting.
Another parallel is character progression. In San Andreas, CJ had stamina, muscle and skills, and several descriptions suggest a similar idea of physical condition may return in GTA 6. We looked at it in a separate piece.
GTA IV
About 30 hours.
The most serious game in the series: the story of the immigrant Niko Bellic, heavy physics for cars and people, and very little caricature. GTA IV is a good contrast to GTA V and a reminder that Rockstar can do drama.
Judging by the trailers, GTA 6 looks like an attempt to combine both approaches: the satire and absurdity of Florida all around, and at the centre a fairly personal story of two people. If you want to see how the second half of that formula can work, GTA IV is the best example.
A plan for the time left
About six weeks remain until 19 November. Playing in the evenings, 40–60 hours is realistic. That gives three options:
- If you only have time for one game — Red Dead Redemption 2. It best prepares you for how GTA 6 plays.
- If you want nostalgia — Vice City plus the heists from GTA V. It fits into 30–40 hours and gives you both the city and the mechanics.
- If you have played them all — rewatch both trailers and the extended look on our trailers page, then open the map of Leonida: its points are placed from the footage, and they are more fun to recognise after the trailers.
And if you do not get through anything — no harm done. GTA 6 is built so you can start from scratch, and most players will do exactly that.
