Games to play before GTA 6, sorted by last start date
Hotline Miami fits before GTA 6 even at two hours a week if you start by November 1. Vice City needs six hours a week from October 27.
Table of Contents
Prices, platforms and subscriptions checked on October 23, 2026.
Start with Hotline Miami tonight: players on HowLongToBeat report an average of 5 hours for its Main Story, which is two and a half evenings. At two hours of play a week it still finishes before launch, as long as you start by November 1.
Rockstar has set Grand Theft Auto VI for Thursday, November 19, 2026. From the date at the top of this page that leaves 27 days, so how long your next game runs matters more than which crime story it tells.
The four picks below are ordered from shortest to longest. The longest no longer fits at any of the paces covered here.
Latest start dates for 2, 3, 5 or 8 weekly hours
Divide a game’s hours by the hours you play each week, multiply by seven and round up. That gives the number of days the game needs. Count those days back from November 19 and you have your last start date.
| Game (Main Story average, source) | 2 h per week | 3 h per week | 5 h per week | 8 h per week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hotline Miami (5 h, HowLongToBeat) | Nov 1 | Nov 7 | Nov 12 | Nov 14 |
| Mafia: The Old Country (10.5 h, Hangar 13) | Too late | Oct 25 | Nov 4 | Nov 9 |
| Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (19 h, HowLongToBeat) | Too late | Too late | Oct 23 | Nov 2 |
| Grand Theft Auto V (31.5 h, HowLongToBeat) | Too late | Too late | Too late | Too late |
HowLongToBeat figures are player-submitted Main Story averages. The Old Country’s figure is the developer’s own estimate. “Too late” means the start date had already passed on October 23.
The dates themselves never move. What changes is how many of them are still ahead of you, so after October 25 the three-hour column has one game left in it.
Vice City is the tight one. At five weekly hours its last start date is the day this page was checked. At six it becomes October 27 (19 ÷ 6 × 7 = 22.2, so 23 days).
Hotline Miami is the shortest way in
Two hours of play each week leaves one game on this list that finishes in time. Hotline Miami is a top-down action game set in an alternative 1989 Miami, where a mysterious antihero takes his orders from messages on an answering machine.
Going past the credits costs more. HowLongToBeat lists 7½ hours for Main + Extras and 15½ for Completionist. The completionist figure is close to eight evenings (15.5 ÷ 2 = 7.75).
At three weekly hours, a completionist run needs just over five weeks. That is longer than the time left before launch.
Note: Devolver Digital’s own description calls the challenge brutal and unforgiving, and HowLongToBeat averages count only players who reached the credits. A slow, retry-heavy player who starts on November 1 at two weekly hours has no slack left.
Where The Old Country fits in your weeks
Hangar 13 told the Czech site Vortex.cz that Mafia: The Old Country’s main story runs 10.5 hours, and 13 with its side activities. That works out to five and a half evenings (10.5 ÷ 2 = 5.25, rounded up to 5.5).
The game is set in Sicily in the early 1900s and is out on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. At three weekly hours it fills three and a half of the 3.9 weeks left.
Five weekly hours leave room for a pair. Hotline Miami plus The Old Country comes to 15.5 hours, so the pair needs to start by October 28 (15.5 ÷ 5 × 7 = 21.7 days, so 22).
Can Vice City still fit before launch day?
Only if you can give it six or more hours of play each week from here. HowLongToBeat players average just over 19 hours for its main campaign, which is nine and a half evenings. Its completionist average runs past 40 hours, beyond every pace in the table.
The appeal is easy to see: GTA 6 returns to Vice City, as part of a new state called Leonida.
Check which version you’re buying. On PC, the Epic Games Store sells Vice City – The Definitive Edition only as part of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, so you also pay for GTA III and San Andreas.
At eight weekly hours, Vice City and Hotline Miami together fit if you start both by October 28 (24.05 ÷ 8 × 7 = 21.04 days, so 22).
GTA V won’t fit, even at eight hours a week
Eight weekly hours from October 23 add up to 30.9 before launch (27 ÷ 7 × 8). GTA V’s Main Story averages 31.5 on HowLongToBeat. A replay would need ten weekly hours, started by October 27 (31.5 ÷ 10 × 7 = 22.05, rounded up to 23 days).
GTA 6 itself is the bigger reason to wait. Rob Nelson, co-studio head at Rockstar North, told The New York Times that his own playthrough took about 80 hours, covering the main story and some optional goals. On a five-hour week that is 16 weeks of play, and that is where the long open-world sessions belong.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is even further out of reach; how long Red Dead Redemption 2 takes in evenings has the breakdown. If nothing above fits your weeks, games you can beat in a weekend suit the days left.
A longer runway for PC players
GTA 6 launches on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Rockstar hasn’t announced a PC version or a date for one. If you play on PC, November 19 isn’t your deadline, and none of the dates above apply to you.
That puts GTA V and Vice City back on the table at any pace. To plan them against your own week, turning HowLongToBeat hours into weeks walks through the conversion.
Start Hotline Miami tonight, then pick a second game
Your first week with Hotline Miami shows how much time your evenings really give you, so choose the second game after that week.
If the second game stops working for you, dropping it is a fair use of the days you have left. Deciding when to quit a game covers how to make that call. For a longer list sorted the same way, short games sorted by evenings covers the rest of the backlog.
Before you buy: look through your library and any subscription catalog you pay for. Catalogs rotate, so check the platform’s own listing on the day you start.
Do you need to play older GTA games first?
Should I play GTA 5 before GTA 6? Not for the story. GTA 6 follows two new leads, Jason and Lucia, and GTA V no longer fits before launch even on an eight-hour week.
