GTA 6 launches on 19 November 2026 for PS5 and Xbox Series, single-player first, and there is still no PC date confirmed, which is the wait, and it is still a long one. I have watched the trailer more times than is polite to admit, and I have tested whether refreshing the announcement page makes time move faster, which it does not, while Variety has the November delay and Kotaku has Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, Leonida, and a modern Vice City. From everything shown so far it looks like the most ambitious open world Rockstar has ever attempted, which is the good news, and the bad news is that climbing the walls does not ship a build.
So instead of waiting like a man refreshing a calendar, I would fill the gap with games I actually launch, six open worlds on this channel that scratch the GTA itch, ordered closest first, which is a waiting-room rather than a ranked masterpiece list. The order is the closest thing to a Rockstar city first, then the other Rockstar epic, then the city toys, then the chaos, then the comfort-food map, and then the crime story if you wanted the plot more than the playground. I went frame by frame through the actual footage in I took a look at the new trailer and screenshots, because that is the useful evening, and the rumour mill between now and November will not be.
Start with the city you already own
You have probably already played GTA 5, and I would play it again, because a decade on it still holds up as one of the best open worlds ever built, and if you have only ever touched Online the three-hander story campaign is well worth a proper run. It is the cleanest way to remind your brain what a Rockstar city actually feels like before the new one arrives, and I am being practical rather than sentimental, because the muscle memory of a Rockstar intersection, the radio, and the stupid side activity you did not plan is the itch people mean when they say they need something before GTA 6. Five still has it, which is why it sits first on a list I would actually install instead of another hour of screenshots.
Then the other Rockstar epic, Red Dead Redemption 2, and if GTA 6 is the headline act then this is the masterpiece sitting quietly in the same building, slower and sadder and stuffed with the kind of small systemic detail that GTA 6 is clearly building on. If you want a sense of where Rockstar’s heads are at right now, this is the closest map you will get, and it is also just a genuinely brilliant game, so there is no hardship in the detour. People will tell you it is homework, and I have had evenings where a slow ride did more for me than another city sandbox pretending to be busy, which is why I follow the session rather than the recast that says an open world only counts if it is loud.
Then the city toys, and the evenings that just want a mess
For a modern city sandbox, try Watch Dogs, and the newest entry, Watch Dogs: Legion, drops you into a near-future London where you can recruit and play as basically anyone you tap on the shoulder. It is not Rockstar, and the writing knows it, while I have mixed feelings about Legion in the way a lot of us do, since I have already grumbled about the series being talked about as a director’s cut rather than a sequel. None of that stops the dense urban playground and the hacking toys from giving you that same feeling of what trouble can I cause on this street corner, which is the bit GTA does so well, so you play as anyone, cause a mess, and see how the city argues back, and the play as anyone chaos run is the texture rather than the review score.
When you want pure chaos, reach for Just Cause, where there is no grounded crime drama, just a grappling hook, a parachute, a wingsuit, and an island begging to be dismantled. Just Cause 4 is the answer for evenings when you do not want a story and you just want to attach a fuel tanker to a helicopter and see what physics has to say about it, and I have a train chaos session on the channel that is exactly as stupid as it sounds. Stealth is irrelevant on that island, because the game wants you loud, airborne and improvising, and if that is not quite the GTA itch then it is the cousin of it, the night you wanted the toys without the cutscene.
For open world mayhem with a bit more shape, there is Far Cry, and Far Cry 6 hands you a sprawling map, a stack of outposts and a villain who genuinely chews the scenery. It is the comfort-food version of an open world, liberate, loot, repeat, and it goes down very easily across a long weekend, though I still think Far Cry 5 is the one I actually launch when I want a bow and a bad idea, and I have said 5 is the better Far Cry. Six is the bigger, prettier waiting-room map, so it helps to know which evening you are having before you install it.
And if you want something more grounded, Mafia is your crime story, tighter and more linear than the others, because the series trades an open-ended sandbox for a focused, character-led tale of organised crime. When you are craving the narrative side of GTA rather than the playground, it lands, and I would not tell you it replaces a Rockstar city, I would tell you it scratches the other half of the itch, the bit where you wanted a proper crime film more than a radio station.
The leaks will not do the waiting for you
A November date is a long runway, and plenty of leaks between now and then will be nonsense, because the internet has already decided GTA 6 is either the most important entertainment product of the decade or a disappointment that has not shipped yet, which is a remarkable amount of confidence about a game most of us have only seen in trailers. I keep the confirmed stuff separate from the noise over in everything we know about GTA 6 single-player, and the wider GTA 6 HQ is where I log anything official as it drops.
If GTA 6 is already the only game that will count for you, enjoy the wait, I suppose, and if you actually wanted something to play then the six above are the ones I would install rather than another hour of screenshot archaeology. If you are still hungry after that lot, the full games hub has the rest of the back catalogue, so pick one and sink in, while I keep watching the official pages so you do not have to, and November will arrive whether we refresh it or not.
FAQ
When does GTA 6 release?
GTA 6 launches on 19 November 2026 for PS5 and Xbox Series, single-player first, with no PC date confirmed, and I have tested whether refreshing the announcement page makes November arrive faster, which it does not. Variety has the delay, and the rest is still a rumour mill I would not build an evening around.
What should you play while waiting for GTA 6?
Six open-world games on this channel scratch the same itch, ordered closest first, which is GTA 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, Watch Dogs: Legion, Just Cause 4, Far Cry 6 and Mafia. It is a waiting-room rather than a ranked masterpiece list, closest to the GTA feeling first, with the chaos and the crime story after.
What game is most like GTA to play before GTA 6?
GTA 5 is the closest, and I know you have probably already played it, so play it again, especially if you have only ever touched Online, because a decade on it still holds up as one of the best open worlds built. The three-hander story campaign is the cleanest way to remind your brain what a Rockstar city actually feels like before the new one arrives.
Which Red Dead game should you play before GTA 6?
Red Dead Redemption 2, the other Rockstar epic sitting quietly in the same building, which is slower, sadder, and stuffed with the kind of small systemic detail GTA 6 is clearly building on. If you want a sense of where Rockstar's heads are at, this is the closest map you will get, and it is also just a brilliant game, so there is no hardship there.
What is a good chaotic open world to play before GTA 6?
Just Cause 4, where there is no grounded crime drama, just a grappling hook, a parachute, a wingsuit and an island begging to be dismantled. I reach for it on evenings when I do not want a story and I just want to attach a fuel tanker to a helicopter and see what physics has to say, and the train chaos session is still on the channel if you need proof I am not being abstract.
Who are the protagonists in GTA 6?
Two leads, Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, set in Leonida and a modern Vice City, and from everything shown so far it looks like the most ambitious open world Rockstar has ever attempted. I went frame by frame through the trailer and screenshots on the video attached to this page, which is the useful footage, and the rest can wait until November.
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