The State of Play was confirmed by PlayStation on May 20. It ran on June 2 at 2 PM PT. The lineup featured the much anticipated Marvel’s Wolverine from Insomniac Games which was also the only title officially announced ahead of the show. The rest of the broadcast covered first-party updates, third-party showcases, and indie reveals. God of War: Laufey closed the show with a 20-minute gameplay segment.
However, the event missed out on revealing anything new about GTA VI. Though the Rockstar’s anticipated title is scheduled for November 19, fans were looking forward to a gameplay reveal, a teaser trailer or even a logo in Sony’s event.
Why Rockstar Skipped GTA VI Reveal on Sony’s State of Play
Reports of Sony-Take-Two marketing partnership for GTA VI had surfaced in May with official but indirect confirmation from Strauss Zelnick. Sony has included GTA VI in its earnings slide deck alongside first-party titles like Ghost of Yotei and Marvel’s Wolverine the only third-party game given that placement. Sony has also been emailing PS4 owners in European markets with targeted upgrade messaging tied to the GTA VI launch date.
According to reports, Sony is sending emails to some people who currently don’t own a PS5 and who have GTA VI wishlisted on the PlayStation Store to market them to buy a PS5 https://t.co/YgtmDaQxos
— ben (@videotech) May 8, 2026
However, none of that translated into a State of Play reveal. While the marketing deal gives Sony the right to feature GTA VI at its event, it does not obligate Rockstar to hand over a trailer per say.
Take-Two’s CEO Zelnick had publicly placed GTA VI marketing in “late June or early July” during the May 21 earnings call, and with that timeline, the State of Play already rules out the June 2 reveal. Moreover, Rockstar’s own marketing pattern across its previous titles across GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, and every major Rockstar release of the past two decades has shown the same trend, which is that the American video game publisher drops trailers on its own channels at its own pace.
Another reference point to consider is the Sony-Activision parallel. Sony has had a marketing partnership with Activision for Call of Duty for years now, but COD still launches its trailers at its own dedicated events.
There is also a strategic logic to skipping June 2. Rockstar wouldn’t want to share the stage with any major upcoming title and titles like Marvel’s Wolverine, God of War Laufey would have meant splitting the news cycle.
Read more – GTA 6 Trailer 3 When Can We See it & Possible Date Speculations Surface Online
What GTA VI Release Means for Holiday 2026
Grand Theft Auto VI is still confirmed for its November 19 launch date, however there’s no official news about when it’s marketing begins. Fans are awaiting the GTA VI’s trailer 3, and there’s no official news on when pre-orders would be open. However, a PS5 bundle has been hinted at, but not officially announced by Sony or Rockstar.
GTA 6 pre-order details leaked by DetectiveSeeds:
— Grand Theft Auto 6 Alerts (@GTA6Alerts) May 14, 2026
🔸6 ways to purchase: 3 standard tiers (Digital/Physical), 1 rare Collector's edition, and 2 console bundles.
🔸 Console Bundles: Tied to PS5 Pro and Standard models and includes a digital download code only.
🔸 Pricing:… pic.twitter.com/gFV4LBEea9
For its predecessor, Rockstar followed a similar arc, with final trailers and pre-orders of GTA V dropping just four to five months before launch. It’s likely we see the same pattern again.
GTA VI, however, is the largest entertainment release of the decade, and Sony’s exclusive marketing rights mean PlayStation will be the platform would carry most of the consumer-facing campaign. Since nothing showed up on the June 2 State of Play would hint that PlayStation might have its own ramp-up to manage GTA VI’s marketing between now and November, from game bundles, store campaigns, hardware bundles.
Fans can expect the next trailer to drop in late June or early July, on Rockstar’s channels, with the pre-orders likely to follow soon after.
