Let's make something clear because some
people still don't get it. Half of GTA 6
trailer 2 is actual gameplay and that's
not a theory. Rockstar said it
themselves. It's not raw UI oncreen
gameplay. But they confirmed a lot of
scenes were recorded during gameplay
sessions and then the camera angle was
changed later using the in-game video
editor. So the next time someone says
analyzing the trailer tells us nothing
about the real game, yeah, you know what
to do with that opinion. So, let's break
down exactly what's gameplay and what's
cutscene and what all of it tells us
about how GTA 6 is really going to play.
The trailer opens with a calm drone
style shot and yeah, I'd say that's
gameplay. Nothing too wild happening
here. Just a boat pulling away from the
dock, some birds hanging around, and a
blimp floating in the distance. Nothing
about it screams cutscene. Next up is
the scene where Jason's fixing the
leaks. And that part is clearly a cut
scene, but as soon as Brian shows up and
gives him the task, it shifts into what
looks like a seamless gameplay
transition. when Jason walks toward the
house. Rockstar has been perfecting this
kind of flow for years. Like in GTA 5,
there's the moment after Lamar roasts
Franklin where it fades directly into
gameplay as Franklin walks through his
house. Red Dead 2 used that same trick
constantly, blending cutscenes into
gameplay so smoothly you barely noticed.
And this scene has that exact same
energy. Then we've got the driving
scene, and this one's 100% gameplay. You
can tell by how Jason's hand movement
isn't perfectly synced with the steering
wheel, something a lot of people picked
up on. It's a small thing, but cutscenes
are always polished down to the frame.
Here, it's clearly procedural. Same goes
for his chuckle. His mouth doesn't quite
match the sound, which is a dead
giveaway that the facial animation is
being driven by the audio in real time,
not by a handcrafted animation. All
signs point to this being an actual
gameplay moment. Next up, the scene
where Jason grabs the money from Brian's
debtor, and that's clearly gameplay,
too. It looks exactly like what you'd
expect from a system for robbing small
businesses or collecting cash during
side gigs. There's nothing overly
cinematic or staged about it, just a
quick interaction, probably triggered by
a button prompt or walking into a
certain zone. Next up is the first
person driving scene. And yep, that's
pure gameplay, and it looks absolutely
stunning. The traffic's dense. There's
this huge plane flying overhead, birds
just chilling by the road signs. I
honestly can't wait to cruise around
Leonida and just take it all in. And I
really hope this time we'll be able to
adjust the vehicle field of view, too.
Not just when walking like in GTA 5. The
Jason bench pressing scene is also
clearly gameplay. I'm pretty sure we'll
be able to hit up gyms open air or
indoor and actually change our physique
like back in San Andreas. This whole
clip feels like Rockstar giving us a
subtle preview of that feature.
Everything looks smooth as butter and
the NPC reactions really sell it. And
Rockstar spoiled this kind of reactions
in one of their patents a while back.
And we can see it in action in multiple
scenes throughout the trailer. Next is
the grocery store scene where Jason's
walking out with a six-pack. And this
one's definitely gameplay. You can spot
it by how the walking animation loops,
especially looking at right hand. And I
love how naturally the lady NPC steps
aside to avoid bumping into him. Now the
question is, how will item handling work
here? Will Jason actually place the beer
on the passenger seat in the trunk or
just drop it to the floor of the car? Or
will it just snap in and out like weapon
pickups in GTA 5? Fully animated
interactions would look incredible, but
could slow things down during normal
gameplay. So maybe this moment is tied
to a mission, like grabbing some beer
before linking back up with Lucia. After
all, GTA 5 had stuff like carrying a mop
and bucket in one mission. But that
didn't mean you could just do that
freely outside of it. Then we get
another firstperson driving scene. And
again, no doubt that's gameplay. And
hopefully these dynamic police stops we
see on the roadside won't just be rare
scripted moments, but something that
shows up all over Leonida as we explore.
Then we cut to the prison sequence, and
that's definitely a cut scene. But when
Lucia walks out and meets Jason near the
exit with the car parked in the
background, I have a feeling this might
lead right into gameplay. Feels like the
kind of moment where we gain control,
walk with her to the car, and start
driving. The bed scene is a bit tricky
to judge cuz after the whole hot coffee
controversy with San Andreas, I really
doubt Rockstar is going to let us
interact with anything too bold. So, I'm
leaning toward this one being part of a
cutscene, something cinematic, not
controlled. But then we jump into the
bank robbery and that feels much more
like gameplay. You've got Lucia holding
two guys at gunpoint and Jason pushing a
hostage forward. It looks like the kind
of mission moment where we'll be
switching between characters or handling
different roles in real time. Then
there's another bed scene. And yeah,
just like the first one, I'm calling it
a cut scene. And the next few clips
showing Jason and Lucia spending time
together after her release definitely
feel like cut scenes, too. And same goes
for the airplane smuggling scene where
they're loading bags into the sea plane.
Then there's the scene where Lucia is
doing community service, and that one's
actually pretty interesting. I wonder if
this is something we'll be forced to do
early in the story. Maybe tied to her
ankle monitor and limited freedom. Or
maybe we'll just be able to switch over
to Jason, take a nap, or do something
else while waiting for her to come back
and when they both arrive at home. I
don't know if it's just me, but Lucia's
model and textures feel off in that
shot. Like noticeably worse than in
other scenes. Her hair especially, it
looks blocky. The textures flat, no
individual strands, and it kind of
blends together almost like the quality
we saw in trailer 1, so I'm guessing
Rockstar might have been working on this
trailer over a few months, and some
scenes are just using older builds of
the game. Anyway, this whole scene looks
like it's from a cut scene. No doubt
about that. The bar scene is definitely
a cutscene, but that doesn't mean bars
won't be explorable outside missions.
Rockstar knows a lot of us were
disappointed that after GTA 4, we
couldn't enter bars in 5, so I'd be
surprised if we couldn't walk into them
whenever we want. Then there's the yacht
scene, and yeah, the one with the
absolutely unhinged jiggle physics. That
whole thing looks like a cut scene, too.
Especially the way Lucia spins around to
show off her outfit. That little twirl
animation feels scripted as hell. No
way. That's gameplay. Same deal with the
conversation in the car and the quick
shot of them holding hands. And with the
919 party clip, that's another cut
scene. As well as the scene where things
clearly start falling apart for Jason.
It's all cinematic. But right after
that, when Lucia jumps down from the
barred window, that moment feels like a
transition and looks like another of
those scenes where we'll regain control
right after the landing and keep moving.
Then we get a few more obvious cutscene
shots before jumping into another piece
of gameplay with Jason shooting out the
window while leaning slightly from the
car. That's pure gameplay, no doubt in
my mind. And after that, a couple more
quick cuts that scream cutscene again.
And now this next clip is actually
pretty interesting. At first, I thought
it had to be a cut scene. I mean,
there's no way we'd be able to fight
like that with throwing someone up
against a car or a wall. We never had
anything close to that in previous GTA.
But then it hit me. Rockstar isn't
building off GTA 5 anymore. They're
pulling more and more from Red Dead 2.
And that kind of hand-to-hand combat was
absolutely a thing in RDR2. So now I'm
leaning toward this one being actual
gameplay. Same goes for the underground
fight club scene with Lucia. That
definitely looks like gameplay to me.
And it feels like Rockstar took the cage
fighting side activity from the ballot
of gay Tony and just cranked it up.
Considering Lucia's backstory being
trained to fight from a young age, it
makes perfect sense that she'd be part
of something like this. So, I wouldn't
be surprised if underground fights
become a full side hustle in GTA 6. Next
scene is definitely a cutscene. Nothing
about it screams playerc controlled, but
right after that, we're back to
gameplay. Lucia is firing off a grenade
launcher, causing this massive explosion
that sends two police cars flying into
the air. And what's wild is how the big
armored police van barely moves. You can
tell Rockstar really nailed the physics
here. The next two clips that follow are
most likely cutscenes again. But then
we're back in action with that shot of
the car dragging a vault through the
streets, which is almost definitely
gameplay, and I already know that
mission is going to be a blast. Just
pure chaos, wrecking everything in your
path while trying to escape with a giant
metal box chained to your bumper. Next
up is the scene near the Dominion Hotel,
and it's absolutely wild. And I'm
convinced this one's gameplay, but I'm
not sure how often we'll be seeing this
kind of party atmosphere with people
having fun on the streets and hanging
out of car windows. Maybe it's just a
Friday night thing in Vice City and the
city turns up for the weekend cuz it's
kind of hard to believe the sidewalks
will be packed with partygoers like that
every single day. The strip club clips
look like gameplay, too. There's nothing
happening that feels overly scripted or
cinematic, just people vibing. Now, the
Ammunation TV ad scene. And if that
theory is true about Jason being able to
nap while Lucia's off doing community
service, then yeah, I'd count this as
gameplay. Watching TV isn't new for GTA.
We had it in both four and five. And
that couch Jason's passed out on might
double as a place to save the game or
skip time. Then we've got Jason flying a
buzzard while chasing down a boat.
That's definitely gameplay. And same
goes for the jet ski scene and Jason
riding the bike. The truck jump scene
feels like a scripted gameplay moment.
kind of reminds me of that GTA 5 mission
where we chase down Michael's stolen
yacht. So, it's probably a part of a
high-speed mission, but still under
player control. And after that, we swing
right back to another romantic cutscene.
The scene with the police maverick
chasing the boat looks like gameplay,
too. And I'm guessing we'll be on that
boat trying to shoot down the heli. And
the dirt bike chase, that's gameplay for
sure. It looks like we'll be riding that
Sanchez as Jason, then making that jump
onto Lucia's convertible while trying to
lose whoever's tailing us. You can
clearly see someone firing from the back
of the pursuing car. Now, the quick
moment with Brian's worker, that's
definitely a cut scene. And the final
scene, honestly, I'm not sure. Lucia
leans pretty far out the window, and
that whole shot has a cinematic feel to
it. My gut says it's a cut scene, but
maybe Rockstar surprises us, and that's
actually something we'll be able to do
in gameplay. But that's not all. Beyond
the trailer, Rockstar also dropped a few
short clips across their website. One of
them looks super similar to that final
scene we saw, except it's set at night.
Lucia's leaning out the window again,
and just like before, I'd say that's a
cut scene. Then there's a quick shot of
what looks like Jason robbing a gas
station. And yeah, that one screams
gameplay. The way he pulls the gun from
his waistband looks smooth as hell, and
that animation detail is seriously on
point. But then there's Raul Bautista's
clip, and that one hits different. It's
pure chaos, bullets flying, and the
whole shootout vibe. Lucia makes this
hilarious shocked face when the bullet
zips past her head. And I'm almost
certain that's gameplay and will be
playing as one of the characters in that
exact moment. Brian's little scene is
more cinematic. Definitely cutscene
material. Same with that last shot of
Jason and Lucia digging through the
trunk. But all those drone-like shots
from various Leonita locations. Yeah,
I'm calling those gameplay. It's way too
natural to be anything else. I know
opinions will be split. Some people
still won't be convinced that trailer 2
includes real gameplay, even though
Rockstar literally said half of it is
gameplay footage, just with cinematic
camera angles added through their
in-game video editor. But honestly, that
already tells us a lot. It gives us a
solid look at how insanely good this
game will look during actual gameplay.
Of course, I still want to see how it
looks raw without any edits or polish,
just straight up in-game footage.
Hopefully, we'll get that official
gameplay breakdown like we did with GTA
5. But back then, that video dropped
just over a month before release. So, I
wouldn't expect anything like that this
year, most likely March or April 2026.
Then again, Rockstar might surprise us
again, just like they did with how
suddenly they dropped trailer 2 in all
those screenshots.