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Rockstar currently lists Grand Theft Auto VI as “Coming November 19, 2026” for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Until Jason and Lucia’s Leonida crime story arrives, the best substitute depends on the part of the formula you want: Red Dead Redemption 2 for Rockstar-style immersion, Cyberpunk 2077 for a modern city with deep RPG systems, Watch Dogs 2 for hacking, Mafia: Definitive Edition for a tightly directed mob drama, Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition for martial-arts crime action, or Saints Row for comic chaos.
At a glance: which GTA-like game should you play?
| Game | Best for | Setting | Crime fantasy | Primary strengths | Scope and tone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | World immersion and outlaw storytelling | Western frontier | Outlaw and gang life | Detailed world, freedom, exploration and character-driven crime story | Broad, deliberate sandbox; grounded and dramatic |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | A modern or futuristic city with RPG progression | Night City, a futuristic metropolis | Mercenary and underworld operator | Open-city exploration, action, role-playing systems and a systemic setting | Large and flexible; futuristic, dark and stylish |
| Watch Dogs 2 | Hacking and a lighter contemporary tone | San Francisco Bay Area | Hacktivist | Hacking, stealth, driving and open-world experimentation | Broad sandbox; playful and less grim |
| Mafia: Definitive Edition | A focused organized-crime narrative | Historical American crime city | Mob associate | Directed story, period crime atmosphere and a clear rise into organized crime | More tightly structured; serious and dramatic |
| Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition | Martial-arts crime drama | Hong Kong | Undercover criminal-world protagonist | Hand-to-hand combat, driving and stunt-focused action | Focused action story; energetic crime thriller |
| Saints Row | Comic chaos and exaggerated mayhem | Contemporary open-world city | Broad sandbox criminal | Humor, spectacle and deliberately over-the-top action | Open-ended and exaggerated rather than grounded |
If you want one recommendation without further qualification, choose Red Dead Redemption 2. It is not a modern city game, but it is the strongest match for Rockstar’s detailed worlds, free exploration and outlaw storytelling. Choose Cyberpunk 2077 instead if the city, contemporary technology and role-playing systems matter more than a realistic tone.
What GTA VI is setting up
Rockstar’s current official listing gives GTA VI a target date of November 19, 2026 and names PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S as the platforms. The story follows Jason and Lucia in Vice City, in the state of Leonida. Rockstar describes them as partners whose easy score goes wrong, pulling them into a criminal conspiracy that stretches across the state and leaves them dependent on one another.
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That premise points to several familiar GTA pleasures: a criminal partnership, a modern American-inspired setting, escalating risk and a large region to cross. None of the games below is a one-for-one replacement. Each preserves a different part of that fantasy, so the right choice is the one that matches the feature you are most eager to play before November 2026.
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How to choose your pre-GTA VI game
Start with the setting
Setting is the fastest way to narrow the list. Watch Dogs 2 is the only recommendation here built around a contemporary coastal US region. Cyberpunk 2077 turns the modern city into a futuristic metropolis. Mafia: Definitive Edition moves to a historical organized-crime environment, while Red Dead Redemption 2 replaces streets and skyscrapers with a Western frontier. Sleeping Dogs offers Hong Kong, and Saints Row uses a contemporary city as a stage for intentionally exaggerated criminal spectacle.
Decide which crime fantasy you want
- Outlaw: Pick Red Dead Redemption 2 for a frontier outlaw story.
- Mob associate: Pick Mafia: Definitive Edition for a concentrated organized-crime narrative.
- Hacker: Pick Watch Dogs 2 for a protagonist who fights through technology and DedSec’s campaign against ctOS 2.0.
- RPG mercenary: Pick Cyberpunk 2077 for a role-playing interpretation of the criminal underworld.
- Martial-arts operative: Pick Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition for hand-to-hand crime action.
- All-purpose chaos agent: Pick Saints Row if humor and mayhem matter more than realism.
Choose between a sandbox and a directed story
Some players want a world that rewards wandering, side activities and improvisation. Others want a clear crime plot that moves from one major event to the next. Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077 and Watch Dogs 2 sit on the broader, more systemic side of the list. Mafia: Definitive Edition is the most tightly directed. Sleeping Dogs sits between focused story and open-world action, while Saints Row prioritizes freedom to create comic set pieces.
Red Dead Redemption 2: best for world immersion and outlaw storytelling
Red Dead Redemption 2 is the best overall answer for a player who values the qualities most associated with Rockstar’s open worlds: a richly detailed environment, freedom to explore and an outlaw story that takes its characters seriously. Its Western setting means you will not be driving through a modern Vice City, but the underlying appeal is close: travel across a large region, live inside a criminal world and let the setting shape the way you approach missions and downtime.
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Why it belongs on a GTA VI shortlist
- It offers Rockstar’s strongest alternative for environmental detail and immersion.
- The outlaw perspective preserves the criminal-story focus while changing the era and technology.
- The broad setting supports exploration rather than forcing every activity into a single mission route.
- Its dramatic tone is a better fit for players expecting character conflict and consequences than for players seeking pure parody.
Who should choose it
Choose Red Dead Redemption 2 if your priority is inhabiting a believable world and following an outlaw narrative over many hours. It is especially suitable when you want a substantial game to spend the months before GTA VI exploring at your own pace.
Do not choose it solely because you want a modern urban sandbox. The frontier setting is the defining difference, and the slower, more deliberate atmosphere is part of its identity. If skyscrapers, hacking or contemporary vehicles are essential, one of the next three choices will fit better.
Cyberpunk 2077: best modern-city RPG substitute
Cyberpunk 2077 is the clearest choice for a player who wants a large city, criminal underworld activity and role-playing systems in one package. Steam lists it as developed and published by CD PROJEKT RED, with a release date of December 9, 2020. The store description calls it “an open-world, action-adventure RPG set in the dark future of Night City — a dangerous megalopolis obsessed with power, glamor, and ceaseless body modification.”
Rank #2
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What it shares with the GTA formula
The attraction is not a direct copy of GTA’s structure. Instead, it combines open-city movement and criminal missions with RPG progression, letting the player approach the protagonist as a role-playing character rather than only as a fixed action hero. Night City supplies the dense urban environment, while the futuristic setting gives familiar crime scenarios a different technological and social context.
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- Build-driven play: The RPG format makes character development part of the core experience.
- Future-city atmosphere: Night City provides a modern-looking metropolis without reproducing Vice City’s sunlit, contemporary identity.
- Systemic approaches: The combination of action-adventure and role-playing systems supports more than a simple drive-and-shoot loop.
- Dark tone: Its focus on power, glamour and body modification makes it a better match for serious science-fiction crime than for broad comedy.
Who should choose it
Choose Cyberpunk 2077 if your ideal GTA VI warm-up is a dangerous city where progression and build choices matter as much as driving between missions. It is also the strongest recommendation for readers searching specifically for a contemporary or futuristic urban alternative.
Watch Dogs 2: best for hacking and a lighter tone
Watch Dogs 2 is the hacking-first recommendation. Ubisoft’s official description places Marcus Holloway in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he joins DedSec to take down ctOS 2.0. The page lists a release date of November 13, 2016, platforms including PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and the genre “Action / Adventure Open World.”
How its crime fantasy differs
Marcus is a young hacker rather than a mob recruit or traditional outlaw. That changes the basic question from “How do I win this shootout?” to “How can I manipulate the connected environment?” Hacking is the game’s defining lens, with stealth, driving and open-world experimentation supporting it. The San Francisco Bay Area setting also provides a recognizably contemporary environment without asking you to wait for GTA VI’s version of Florida.
Why the tone matters
Watch Dogs 2 is a lighter choice than the serious crime dramas in this list. Its playful approach makes it a good fit when you want the freedom of an open-world crime game without spending every session in a grim, heavily dramatic narrative. That same tone may be a drawback if what you want is the darker criminal-conspiracy premise Rockstar has described for GTA VI.
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Who should choose it
Choose Watch Dogs 2 if hacking, stealth and creative interaction with a modern city sound more appealing than traditional gunfights. It is also the practical pick for players whose priority is a current-era US setting and a lighter atmosphere.
Rank #3
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Mafia: Definitive Edition: best focused organized-crime story
Mafia: Definitive Edition is the most concentrated crime narrative in this group. Steam lists it as developed by Hangar 13 and published by 2K, released on September 24, 2020. Its description begins: “An inadvertent brush with the mob thrusts cabdriver Tommy Angelo into the world of organized crime.” Steam also tags it as both Open World and Crime.
What makes it different from GTA-like sandboxes
The game’s appeal is direction rather than maximum systemic freedom. Tommy’s accidental entry into organized crime gives the story a clear dramatic line: a civilian is pulled into the mob world, and the narrative follows that transformation. The historical city and period atmosphere create a crime story that feels more like a gangster drama than a contemporary criminal playground.
Why it is useful before GTA VI
- It delivers the organized-crime fantasy directly instead of filtering it through hacking, science fiction or comedy.
- The story-led structure is ideal when you want a shorter, more purposeful path through a crime narrative.
- The open-world tag means there is still a city to move through, but the experience is more tightly directed than the broadest sandbox options.
- The serious tone fits readers who are interested in GTA VI’s criminal-conspiracy setup rather than its satire alone.
Who should choose it
Choose Mafia: Definitive Edition when story momentum matters more than endless side activities. It is the best option for a player who wants to understand a protagonist’s rise into organized crime through a focused campaign.
Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition: best martial-arts crime drama
Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition offers the most distinctive action style on this list. Comparison coverage consistently identifies it as a focused Hong Kong crime story built around martial-arts combat and stunt action. That combination separates it from games whose central verbs are primarily driving, shooting or hacking.
Why its combat changes the experience
Hand-to-hand combat makes encounters feel more physical and immediate. Stunt-focused action adds another layer to movement through the city, so the appeal is not only the criminal plot but also how the protagonist handles danger at close range. The Hong Kong setting supplies a different urban identity from Vice City, Night City or the San Francisco Bay Area.
Edition and availability check
Confirm the current Definitive Edition listing, supported platform and regional availability before purchase. Storefront catalogs can differ by territory, and the available edition is not guaranteed to be identical everywhere.
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Who should choose it
Choose Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition if you want a crime thriller whose defining feature is martial-arts action. It is a better fit for players who find ordinary shooting-heavy open worlds repetitive and want melee combat and stunts to drive the experience.
Saints Row: best for comic chaos
Saints Row represents the comic-chaos branch of the GTA-like formula. Its value is tonal: it favors exaggerated humor, spectacle and mayhem over the grounded criminal-conspiracy premise associated with GTA VI.
When its tone is exactly right
Pick Saints Row when you want to turn an open-world crime game into a playground for absurd situations. The broad sandbox-criminal fantasy remains recognizable, but realism is not the goal. The game is most useful as a change of pace after serious stories such as Mafia: Definitive Edition or Red Dead Redemption 2.
When to skip it
Skip Saints Row if you are specifically trying to approximate GTA VI’s grounded partnership and criminal-conspiracy setup. The exaggerated tone is a deliberate contrast, not a flaw to be overlooked.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Detailed comparison by player priority
| If your priority is… | Start with | Why | Main compromise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rockstar-style immersion | Red Dead Redemption 2 | Detailed world, exploration and outlaw storytelling | Western frontier instead of a modern city |
| A city plus RPG systems | Cyberpunk 2077 | Night City combines open-world action with role-playing progression | Futuristic setting and darker science-fiction tone |
| Hacking and stealth | Watch Dogs 2 | Marcus and DedSec make technology the central crime tool | Lighter tone and older listed console generation |
| Organized-crime drama | Mafia: Definitive Edition | Tommy Angelo’s mob story is tightly directed | Less emphasis on a huge, free-form sandbox |
| Martial-arts combat | Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition | Hong Kong crime action built around melee and stunts | Check regional edition and platform availability |
| Humor and mayhem | Saints Row | Comic chaos is the defining feature | Least suitable for a grounded GTA VI-like mood |
A practical play order before November 2026
There is no single correct order, but this sequence moves through different interpretations of the crime-game formula without repeating the same experience.
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- Move to Watch Dogs 2 for a lighter contemporary setting and a crime fantasy based on hacking rather than mob hierarchy.
- Play Cyberpunk 2077 when you are ready for a larger city and deeper RPG structure. Its futuristic Night City changes the scale and technology while keeping the criminal underworld central.
- Choose Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition for a combat-focused change of pace, after confirming the edition and platform sold in your region.
- Finish with Red Dead Redemption 2 if you want the most immersive, expansive outlaw experience before GTA VI. Its deliberate frontier setting makes it feel like a substantial final chapter before returning to a modern Rockstar city.
- Insert Saints Row at any point when you want comic relief, exaggerated action and a deliberate break from serious crime drama.
Platform and purchase checks
Platform availability is not uniform across this list. GTA VI’s current official target is limited to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. By contrast, Ubisoft’s official listing for Watch Dogs 2 names PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The other games may have different storefront, console, PC or regional listings depending on the edition you select.
Best Value
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- Check the exact title, especially whether a listing says Definitive Edition.
- Confirm that the platform you own is listed for that edition.
- For Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition, verify regional availability before paying because storefront catalogs vary.
- Do not assume that a current digital listing, physical release and backward-compatible version offer identical features or availability.
Final recommendation by type of GTA player
If you want the closest overall feeling
Play Red Dead Redemption 2. The setting is different, but its combination of detailed world-building, freedom and outlaw storytelling is the strongest match for the qualities many players seek from a Rockstar open world.
If you want a modern-city replacement
Play Cyberpunk 2077. Night City supplies the urban scale, while RPG progression gives the crime-game structure a distinct identity.
If you want a familiar contemporary setting with a twist
Play Watch Dogs 2. Its San Francisco Bay Area setting and hacking-led missions provide a lighter alternative to conventional crime-game combat.
If you want the best pure mob story
Play Mafia: Definitive Edition. Tommy Angelo’s accidental entry into organized crime makes the narrative premise direct and easy to follow.
If you want combat that GTA does not emphasize
Play Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition for martial arts, melee encounters and stunt action in a Hong Kong crime drama.
If you want to stop taking crime seriously
Play Saints Row for comic chaos and exaggerated mayhem. It is the intentional tonal opposite of a grounded criminal-conspiracy story.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
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