GTA 6 news
What to do first in GTA 6: a launch-day checklist
Last updated: 6 September 2026
GTA 6 arrives 19 November 2026 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Every item below is built only from what Rockstar has actually confirmed — nothing speculative, nothing that needs an online mode that may not exist at launch. Tick items off as you go; your progress saves in your own browser only, nowhere else.
Before you press start
Take thirty seconds for a settings pass first: camera preference, difficulty options if the game offers them, and whichever button captures a screenshot or clip on your platform — you'll want it before the first good moment, not after. One thing worth knowing going in: no PC release has been dated, so if you were waiting for one, there's nothing to wait for yet.
Hour one: the first five things
If you want a starting order rather than an open list, these five cover a broad slice of what's confirmed inside one sitting, roughly in the order most people naturally reach them.
Carjack the first vehicle you see. It's the fastest way to get moving, and carjacking is confirmed as a core mechanic rather than an edge case — no need to save it for later. Get yourself to the coast. Vice City and the Leonida Keys both put water within easy reach of the opening area, and the game's whole visual identity leans on it. Take a photo of whatever's actually in frame rather than waiting for a "photo mode moment" — the ordinary streets are usually more interesting on a first look than anything staged. Find a nightclub once night falls and stay for a set; clubbing with tipping is one of the more distinctive confirmed activities and it rewards sticking around rather than passing through. Do something that gets the police chasing you, then actually try to lose them rather than surrendering immediately — it's the fastest way to learn how the world reacts to you before you've committed to anything longer.
The checklist
Twenty-five items, five groups, every single one drawn from Rockstar's own confirmed activity list — not a rumor among them. Tick a box and it stays ticked the next time you load this page, saved in your own browser's local storage rather than an account anywhere, so nobody but you ever sees your progress.
On foot
On water
On wheels
Sports and downtime
Trouble
Spin a GTA 5 dare right now if you want a warm-up run before launch day actually arrives — the mechanics above translate directly.
Why this checklist only uses confirmed activities
It would be easy to pad a launch-day list with things that sound plausible for a GTA game — a casino, a property empire, a flight lesson — and most of those guesses would probably land right eventually. But "probably" isn't good enough for a list you're meant to actually use on day one: if half the items turn out not to exist, you've wasted real time in the game checking. Every single item above traces back to something Rockstar or reliable reporting has specifically named, not a reasonable guess about what a GTA game usually has.
What is NOT in GTA 6 (so you don't waste day one)
Tennis is confirmed not playable, despite tennis courts existing in the world — don't go looking for a match, and don't assume every visible piece of scenery doubles as an activity just because it looks like one. Online or multiplayer at launch is not confirmed, and several outlets report it will not be present on day one, so don't plan a group session around it without a backup single-player plan ready to go instead. Planes, casinos and property empires are all unconfirmed one way or the other — leave them off your list until Rockstar actually says something, rather than assuming a franchise staple automatically carries over this time.
A region-by-region route
If you'd rather explore than tick boxes in order, do one thing in each of the six confirmed regions instead of working the list top to bottom: a nightclub in Vice City, a jet ski in the Leonida Keys, an airboat through Grassrivers, a drive along Port Gellhorn's coast, a dirt bike in Ambrosia, and a hunt or a swim in Mount Kalaga National Park. That's six of the twenty-five items above, spread across the whole map rather than clustered near wherever you start — a reasonable shape for a first session if you'd rather see the state than sit still in one corner of it. See the full region-by-region breakdown for what's actually been shown in each before you go, including what still isn't confirmed about travel between them.
Is this a 100% completion list?
No — and it isn't trying to be. A real completion checklist needs the game's own tracked collectibles, side-mission counts and completion percentages, none of which exist yet and won't until players have actually spent time with the finished game. This is a launch-day starter list built entirely from what's confirmed today: a way to have something concrete to do in your first few hours rather than wandering with no plan. Once GTA 6 is out and a real completion list exists, treat this page as the warm-up, not the whole race.
Turn the checklist into a dare run
If ticking boxes in order feels too tidy, let the GTA challenge generator pick for you instead — set it to Menace difficulty and spin through the Chaos and Wheels categories for a rougher, less orderly version of the same first few hours. It won't have GTA 6 dares until the game is actually out, but every mechanic above already exists in the chaos dares built for GTA 5.
FAQ
What should you do first in GTA 6?
Something small and immediate — carjack a vehicle, get to the coast, take a photo. This checklist gives you 25 confirmed activities across five groups so you're never standing around deciding on launch day itself.
Is tennis in GTA 6?
No. Tennis courts exist in the world, but tennis itself has been confirmed as not playable — don't put it on your list.
Can you play GTA 6 online at launch?
Not confirmed. Multiple outlets report that an online mode will not be present at launch. This checklist is built entirely around single-player activities so it works regardless of how that turns out.
What side activities are confirmed in GTA 6?
Basketball, boxing, pool, fishing, hunting, kayaking, jet skiing, airboating, mini golf, scuba diving, swimming, gym workouts, a shooting range, wrestling, dirt biking, base jumping, car and dirt racing, rentable e-scooters, clubbing with tipping, watching in-game TV, a VR headset, carjacking and armed robberies — every item on this checklist comes from that list.
When does GTA 6 come out?
19 November 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, per Rockstar's own product page. No PC release has been dated.