Grand Theft Auto VI probably will not let you play in first person when it arrives, which is a shame given how much detail Rockstar Games put into all the little things.
According to creators who got hands-off previews at Rockstar North and put the question directly to co-studio head Rob Nelson, the builds they saw did not include a full first-person mode, the free-roam, walk-and-drive camera Grand Theft Auto V players have enjoyed for years. The only consolation is that a limited form of first-person perspective, particularly for aiming certain weapons and using binoculars, are in the earlier build of the game. Unfortunately, the full version is not, "for now."
Spanish creator elrubius, one of the group invited to Edinburgh for the preview, shared that he asked Nelson about first person and came away with a "hasn't been implemented yet" answer. For what it's worth, this lines up with the 30 FPS detail from the same round of visits, and with the Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look itself, which was almost entirely over-the-shoulder.
First-person mode across recent Rockstar games
Game | Full first-person mode |
|---|---|
Grand Theft Auto V (2013) | Added later, with the 2014 next-gen versions |
Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) | Included at launch |
Grand Theft Auto VI (2026) | Not in the preview builds, per creators |
When each game got a full first-person mode, and where GTA 6 reportedly stands.
GTA 5 shipped third-person only in 2013, then added a full first-person mode with its next-gen re-release a year later, and it became one of the most popular ways to play the game, specially for driving and interiors. Red Dead Redemption 2 went further and included it at launch. So plenty of players simply assumed GTA 6 would ship with the option, but apparently, that isn't the case.
The car interiors are what make me doubt this sticks, though. Rockstar built them down to working dials and gauges, the kind of obsessive cockpit detail you only really appreciate from the driver's seat, in first person. Why sweat that for a camera you never intend to offer? GTA 5, for all its sales and the love the first-person mode gets, is not flawless. Bolting first person onto that game a year after launch was a band-aid stuck onto something the developers never designed it for. It's more likely that they planned first-person for GTA 6 from the start and simply have not switched it on in these pre-launch builds for one reason or another.
So when? A last-minute addition before November 19 is definitely possible. However, if we go by GTA 5's playbook, Rockstar could add it in a post-launch update, the eventual PC version, or a later enhanced edition. Nelson's "for now" does the same thing his previous non-answers have and he's playing it safe because he doesn't want to rule anything out.
To be fair, Rockstar has not confirmed or denied a first-person mode, and everything here comes from creators recalling private sessions, consistent with one another but still unofficial and second-hand.
For now, plan on playing the sequel the way most of us have always played Grand Theft Auto, over the shoulder. The first-person purists will get their mode eventually.