Just two days ago, Rockstar Games confirmed that GTA 6 has been delayed to 26 May 2026—a far cry from its originally targeted autumn 2025 release window. Excruciating news, I know. But at least we can take solace in the fact that the developers over at Rockstar haven’t had to crunch their souls into oblivion just to get the game out on time. And, on the bright side, we now have a specific date to circle on our calendars—even if it mean we have to twiddle our thumbs for another year.
Or… do we? To appease its ravenous fanbase, the studio has just dropped a second trailer for GTA 6 to tide us over. This one leans more cinematic and story-driven, showcasing the game through cutscenes—captured on the base PS5, no less—rather than actual gameplay. Still, there’s a flurry of new details to dig into. So stop twiddling those thumbs, don your tinfoil hats, and let’s get theorising.
This theory has been doing the rounds since the first trailer dropped, but the second trailer adds more fuel to the fire. For starters, we see Jason picking Lucia up from prison, only for a guard to eye him suspiciously and say, “I’ve seen you here before,” to which Jason casually replies, “You might have.”
In another scene, an older cop with a badge dangling from his neck says, “Us cops, we’ve got to protect each other,” before an abrupt cut to Jason opening fire from a moving car.
There’s also a moment when someone straight-up accuses Jason, asking, “Yo D, this fool a fed?” And then there’s the tattoo—Jason sports ink that closely resembles the Special Forces Green Berets' insignia.
Honestly, with such overt nods, it feels as if Rockstar might be breadcrumbing us toward a red herring. Especially considering the practical improbability of murdering people left and right as an undercover officer. But it’s still a possibility, nonetheless.
If you’ve played Vice City or GTA III, you’ll remember a certain redneck arms dealer named Phil Cassidy. One of Phil’s most defining traits? He’s missing an arm. Yet in the new trailer, he has two—which throws the timeline into disarray. There’s no plausible way GTA 6 is a prequel to Vice City, which was set in the 1980s, due to the technological advancements in the new trailer.
This has led some to speculate that the Phil we see in the trailer is actually Phil Cassidy’s son, who might’ve adopted his father’s name in a classic Sr/Jr scenario.
But there’s an even wilder theory floating around: that the Phil we knew in Vice City and GTA III was never “real” in the first place, but merely a fictional character within a series of films in the HD universe (GTA IV and beyond). Sounds absurd? Maybe. But the idea of three distinct GTA universes has been circulating for years:
2D Universe (top-down classics like GTA 1)
3D Universe (stylised, ‘90s-‘00s games like San Andreas, Vice City)
HD Universe (realistic, post-GTA IV titles)
This theory accounts for all sorts of inconsistencies and tonal shifts between titles. And if you revisit the trailer, you’ll notice Phil appearing on a TV screen, advertising Ammu-Nation. Could this be a subtle nod to his affinity with the screen? A bonkers theory, yes—but an oddly compelling one.
We’ve long assumed that Lucia and Jason are the central protagonists, with players having the ability to toggle between them. But the second trailer gives us reason to believe there may be a third.
Multiple scenes shift the camera to the perspective of law enforcement—an unusual move, considering that GTA cutscenes have historically remained grounded in the viewpoint of the playable characters. Could the ageing cop be a third playable figure? Or is there someone less obvious Rockstar is keeping hidden in plain sight?
Now for a theory that veers away from storylines entirely and dives headfirst into the wild west of GTA Online. Thanks to leaks and whispers from alleged insiders, rumours are swirling that GTA 6 could introduce a full-blown play-to-earn economy driven by cryptocurrency.
Some suggest this is the real reason for the delay—to give Rockstar time to build its own blockchain infrastructure and refine the system before launch. After all, GTA Online is the studio’s cash cow, and a crypto-based economy could be the next evolution (if controversial) in monetisation.
Look, if any game could blur the lines between virtual and real-world currency, it’s Grand Theft Auto. And with the prospect of the metaverse still looming in the background, this no longer feels like science fiction. It might just be Rockstar’s next great gamble.
