Rockstar and Atlantic Announce 'GTA VI: The Album,' 34 New Tracks for November 19

Rockstar Games and Atlantic Records announced Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album on 17 September 2026, a 34-track collection of original songs that will arrive on 19 November, the same day the game itself launches on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Related reading: Grand Theft Auto VI Launch Trailer Debuts a Justice Single Before 19 November · GTA 6 Will Need 210GB on PS5, the Largest Single-Player Install Yet.

The announcement resolved a puzzle that had been building for days. A group of artists had posted matching images online, and the roster behind them turned out to be unusually broad: pop, hip-hop, electronic music, country and rock on the same record. Six of the 34 tracks were released immediately as singles, and the remaining 28 have not yet been named.

For Rockstar, the album is a different kind of launch. The Grand Theft Auto series has always leaned on licensed music and in-game radio stations, but an official, original soundtrack released through a major label is a step beyond the usual curation. Atlantic Records and Rockstar announced the project as a partnership, with the songs written to capture the world of Vice City and the fictional state of Leonida.

Six singles, one very wide roster

The first six tracks show how deliberately the album avoids a single sound. They include Yung Lean's "That's It" with Future and Metro Boomin; Travis Scott's "RHYNO", produced by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk; "Sexy Magic" by CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso, PinkPantheress, Fred again.. and Étienne de Crécy; Morgan Wallen's "Last Thing You Need"; Rauw Alejandro's "Macacoa 2000"; and Keith Richards' "Bright Lights, Big City".

That list spans Latin pop, country, electronic music and rock, and it puts a Rolling Stones guitarist on the same album as a Colombian reggaeton star and a British electronic producer. Rolling Stone reported that the songs were created specifically for the game rather than pulled from existing catalogues, and that the remaining 28 tracks had not been revealed at launch.

At least two of the singles nod directly at the game. Scott's "RHYNO" names a location from the GTA VI map, and the project's artwork, animated pieces included, was made for the release rather than reused from earlier campaigns.

The physical release is the story for collectors

Rockstar and Atlantic have treated the album as a collector's product as much as a streaming release. The official store at gtavi-thealbum.com sells a $19.98 CD, a $49.98 splatter vinyl, and a limited-edition liquid-filled vinyl at $124.98. The liquid-filled pressing, transparent magenta records filled with blue liquid, sold out in minutes on some UK and European storefronts, according to fan and retail reports, and resale listings appeared quickly at several times face value.

Beyond the official store, the label lined up retail-exclusive colourways at Blood Records, Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target and Urban Outfitters, plus independent record shops. Complex counted multiple CD and vinyl variants, and the full set of 12 physical editions runs to more than $500 before shipping. Some variants are already unavailable in certain regions, and others are not sold in every country.

That pattern is familiar from the wider vinyl revival, where limited pressings and variant covers are used to drive pre-orders. It also fits the scale of the game. GTA VI is expected to be one of the largest entertainment launches of the decade, and a soundtrack with collectible editions gives fans something to buy months before the game unlocks.

The album will also be available digitally, and the game itself is a digital-only release. Pre-orders for GTA VI have been open since 25 June, and pre-download is expected to begin on 12 November, a week before launch. The physical album ships from 20 November, one day after the game arrives.

Why Rockstar is releasing an album at all

Grand Theft Auto has shaped how a generation hears music. The series built its identity on in-game radio, from the pop and hip-hop stations of Vice City and San Andreas to the licensed soundtracks that sent older songs back up the charts. An official album formalises that relationship and gives Atlantic a release that sits at the intersection of music and games, two industries that increasingly share audiences.

Atlantic's president, Kevin Weaver, thanked everyone involved after the announcement and said work on the release had been under way for two years, according to GTA.com.ua, which covered the launch. That timeline suggests the album was planned well before the final marketing push for the game.

There is also a commercial logic. Game soundtracks can reach listeners who never buy the game, and a 34-track record with a streaming release is cheap to distribute and easy to keep in circulation after launch. Rockstar has said more details are coming on the game's dynamic score and the next evolution of in-game radio, which points to the album and the game's interactive music being handled as connected projects rather than one-off tie-ins.

The economics of a game soundtrack

Soundtrack albums are usually one of two things: orchestral scores sold to fans of the game, or compilations of licensed songs that were already hits elsewhere. GTA VI: The Album is neither. It is a set of original songs commissioned for the game, released through a major label with a full physical campaign and a streaming release on the same day as the game. That combination is unusual enough to be worth understanding.

For Atlantic, the album arrives with marketing that money cannot easily buy. GTA VI is expected to be one of the biggest entertainment launches of the decade, and its soundtrack will be heard by players inside the game as well as by listeners on streaming services. A record tied to that launch starts with an audience most albums spend months trying to build, and it keeps earning after the launch window because the songs do not disappear when the campaign ends.

For the artists, a place on a Grand Theft Auto soundtrack carries a particular kind of cultural weight. The series has a long history of introducing players to music they would not otherwise have found, and its radio stations have become reference points in their own right. Being on the official album, rather than on a licensed station, ties an artist to the game's identity rather than to a single scene inside it. The six singles were released together, which spreads the promotional load across several genres at once and gives each artist a moment in the announcement.

For Rockstar, the calculation is different. Building an original album gives the company control over the music that defines its world, instead of negotiating licences for songs it does not own. It also creates a product that can be sold to people who are not ready to buy the game, or who want something physical from the launch. The 12 physical variants, and the sell-outs on the most limited of them, suggest the strategy is working at least as a collector's proposition.

The streaming release matters too. Pre-save campaigns put the album in front of listeners before launch, and the singles give streaming services a reason to feature the record in the weeks before 19 November. A soundtrack that performs well on streaming can keep generating revenue and attention long after the game's opening weekend, which is the part of the cycle that studios and labels usually struggle to sustain.

What to watch

The first question is how much of the album will also appear inside the game. Rockstar has confirmed six singles and a 34-track record, but it has not said how the songs map onto radio stations, missions or the score. That distinction matters to players who care about how GTA VI sounds in play, not just on streaming services.

The second is whether the liquid-filled vinyl is restocked. A limited pressing that sells out in minutes creates demand, but it also frustrates buyers, and the resale prices that follow can overshadow the release itself. Atlantic has not said whether more copies are coming.

The third is the rest of the tracklist. With 28 songs still unnamed and the album due in less than two months, more singles are likely. Each reveal is a marketing moment, and the strategy so far has been to let the artists announce themselves, which keeps attention on the album between now and 19 November.

For now, the album is a bet that the music of GTA VI can stand on its own, released by a label that knows how to sell a record and a studio that knows how to build a world. Whether it lands as a soundtrack or as an album in its own right will be decided by the 28 tracks still under wraps.

Cover: official Grand Theft Auto VI key art, Rockstar Games promotional artwork distributed for news coverage of the game.