Rockstar accused of trolling GTA 6 fans with new GTA Online teaser

Rockstar might be intentionally torturing fans anticipating the next GTA 6 trailer, as a GTA Online post has some questionable water continuity.

There’s a lot of evidence to suggest Rockstar knows exactly what it’s doing when it comes to placing references to GTA 6 in GTA Online, but a new marketing image might be the clearest indication yet of them purposefully teasing fans.

Ever since the first trailer for GTA 6 debuted in December last year, fans have speculated on when Rockstar will drop the next one. As we approach the one year anniversary, there’s now every reason to hope another trailer could drop in just the next few days.

While that certainly is possible, especially with The Game Awards in sight, these rumours have accelerated thanks to a new social media post about GTA Online which has one very suspect detail.

The post, shared on the Rockstar Games X account, looks business as usual on the surface. It promotes an upcoming Police Predator boat in GTA Online, which will be free to all players for a limited time in December, if the community manages to collectively earn $20 trillion in GTA Online’s The Heist Challenge.

If you look beyond the boat, however, a detail in the water has caught the attention of some fans. Below the pier, three colours are reflected in the water (yellow, pink, and blue) which don’t match well with the lighting above the surface – especially in terms of the pattern.

These colours are the same ones used in the GTA 6 logo, which some fans think is not a coincidence. Some are even convinced they can see a Rockstar logo in the reflection, but that might be hallucination via trailer depravation.

‘Yeah nah that water reflection is definitely sus,’ a fan wrote on X. ‘I don’t see those colours on the Ferris wheel but I do see them on a certain video game artwork.’

‘Congratulations I’m losing my mind,’ another added in response.

The reflections have since sparked a debate on Reddit over whether they actually appear in the game, with some claiming they do when you play GTA Online on higher fidelity settings. Although that doesn’t really answer the question of whether this is supposed to be a tease for a new trailer.

Rockstar has not given next month’s GTA Online update an exact release date, but it’s believed to be coming around Tuesday, December 10, based on prior rollouts.

The first trailer for GTA 6 debuted on December 4 last year, a day early than originally planned, so fans are hoping Rockstar might mark the one-year anniversary with some more footage or news.

And yet Rockstar announced the trailer was coming in December on November 8, so we’re obviously well past that – which could indicate there’s not going to be a second trailer this year.

GTA 6 doesn’t have a precise release date, but Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two has reaffirmed it is currently scheduled for autumn 2025.