GTA 6 Official Story Length Is Dividing Fans

Until Rockstar reveals anything official about how it will eventually interact with the Grand Theft Auto Online experience, Grand Theft Auto 6 is a wholly single-player game, with that being all fans can realistically look forward to in the near future.

In fact, with GTA Online launching only a couple of weeks after the release of Grand Theft Auto 5, it’s anyone’s guess how soon it’ll be before we get our first details about an online component for Grand Theft Auto 6 (which, like Grand Theft Auto 5, also isn’t available on PC at launch).

As for the story campaign itself, we’ve only received vague teases of a “criminal conspiracy” and plenty of Grand Theft Auto 6 rumors masquerading as potential leaks. All fans can seem to agree on is how long they believe Rockstar’s upcoming blockbuster epic will be, even if they aren’t necessarily happy with how long or short they perceive its hypothetical length to be.

On Reddit, fans are discussing how long they expect Grand Theft Auto 6 to be, reflecting on how long Rockstar’s most recent games are in order to determine an approximation of what Grand Theft Auto 6 might hope to achieve. Overall, the consensus is that, unsurprisingly, fans are sure it’ll be a long game.

That said, user Phos-Lux makes a point by asking, “What even counts as ‘long’ nowadays,” and it’s interesting because one gamer’s idea of a long game may not be the same as someone else’s. For many gamers, Grand Theft Auto 5’s 30-hour story length is more than enough, while user Waste-Technology-381 is excited about the possibility of Grand Theft Auto 6 being longer because they were disappointed that Grand Theft Auto 5 wasn’t.

Similarly, user smackchice is not alone when they argue that Red Dead Redemption 2 was too long: “By the end I was exhausted and ready to never touch it again.” User HearTheEkko predicts that, while the main story may or may not be longer than Red Dead Redemption 2’s, its optional side content could far eclipse that of Red Dead Redemption 2’s: “Maybe similar campaign length but way more side missions since Leonida isn’t just woods and mountains.”

When it’s finally revealed or determined how long it takes to beat Grand Theft Auto 6’s story campaign, there will only be two responses: fans will either wish it was longer or shorter, whether it’s as long or longer than Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, averaging at roughly 30–50 hours or more. The secret, far rarer third option will be that players are perfectly content with however long Grand Theft Auto 6 is.

How many of those hours are dedicated to padding, such as having it take forever to get from one side of the open-world map to the other, is another question entirely. Plus, most fans genuinely adore doing ‘nothing’ and being leisurely in Grand Theft Auto games, with the story probably being inconsequential to them.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is scheduled to be released for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19, 2026.

Released November 19, 2026

ESRB Rating Pending - Likely Mature 17+

Engine Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE)

Multiplayer Online Multiplayer