The Evolution of Grand Theft Auto's Iconic Cover Art, Now Featuring GTA 6

With Rockstar finally unveiling the GTA 6 cover art, we decided to take a nostalgic look back at the history of the franchise's iconic box designs. The first two Grand Theft Auto games were entirely different from the rest—2D top-down action titles with looser narratives. Their cover arts also stood out, featuring a distinct logo style, more realistic imagery, and no game characters. Grand Theft Auto 3 marked a massive leap, transitioning the series into 3D and establishing the open-world formula. Artistically, it introduced the Pricedown font (often called the GTA font) and the collage-style cover design. However, that cover almost didn't happen. Originally, GTA 3 had a poster reminiscent of old-school action movies, packed with characters, guns, cars, and explosions. But after 9/11, Rockstar delayed the game by three weeks to make changes, including stripping out certain dialogue and references to terrorism. They also felt the original cover was too intense and redesigned it. In a 2012 blog post, Rockstar explained that the US packaging was remixed into their signature style because the original European cover felt too raw after the attacks. According to co-founder Dan Houser, the new design was created in an evening by artist Stephen Bliss, inspired by a poster for The Thomas Crown Affair. This laid the foundation for almost every GTA cover since. While the original art was still used in Europe, later games would become more unified. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City solidified the collage style and introduced patterns: every cover since has featured a helicopter in the top-left corner, a scantily clad woman in a provocative pose, and a bike (usually a motorcycle). Vice City's vibrant colors matched its Miami aesthetic. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas then set another trend by featuring the protagonist on the cover—CJ on a BMX bike. From then on, all mainline GTA games prominently displayed their main characters. The expansions for GTA IV had their own art but only used the collage style when bundled as Episodes from Liberty City. GTA V mostly stuck to the formula but tweaked the logo, writing out "five" across the Roman numeral and shaping it like a dollar sign to reflect the heist theme. Now, in 2026, Rockstar has revealed the GTA 6 cover art, which follows the classic style: a helicopter in the top-left, a woman in a bikini, a motorcycle, dangerous supporting characters, and protagonists Jason and Lucia. We've analyzed the artwork for hidden details, which you can check out here. Rockstar also released a short clip of Vice City to hold fans over until the next trailer. GTA 6 launches on November 19 for Xbox Series X|S and PS5, with pre-orders opening on June 25.