The upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6 will be the end of an era for the franchise because it will be the first main series game without an appearance by Lazlow Jones since GTA 3 launched all the way back in 2001. It's safe to say that Grand Theft Auto 6 is the most-anticipated game in the world right now, and many fans of the franchise are already counting down the days to May 26, 2026.
Grand Theft Auto 6 has been a long time coming, to say the least. Grand Theft Auto 5 was released in 2013, and so fans have been waiting a staggering 12 years for the next entry in the groundbreaking open world franchise. Luckily, we are in the home stretch for GTA 6, with the game set to launch in less than a year's time. But when GTA 6 hits store shelves on May 26, 2026, it will do so without Lazlow Jones.
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GTA 6 Will Be the First Grand Theft Auto Game in Over 25 Years to Not Feature Lazlow
It was recently confirmed that GTA 6 will not feature Lazlow Jones, who worked on the series in a creative capacity and also played the hilarious Lazlow character in Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, San Andreas, Liberty City Stories, Vice City Stories, 4, and 5. Lazlow was the host of the popular Chatterbox radio station in GTA 3 and could continue to be heard on Grand Theft Auto radio stations throughout most of the series. GTA 5 marked the Lazlow character's on-screen debut, and while many fans assumed he would return for GTA 6, that does not appear to be the case.
The real-life Lazlow Jones left Rockstar Games in 2020 and is collaborating with former GTA series producer and writer Dan Houser at Absurd Ventures. Now, with GTA 6 launching on May 26, 2026, there technically may still be time to get Lazlow in the new game, even if it's just for a brief cameo, but that remains to be seen.
In the meantime, GTA Online still features Lazlow, so fans can see him there, and they can also relive most of his performances on modern consoles, with some exceptions. Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories are not playable on modern consoles at the time of this writing, but the PS2 GTA trilogy is via the divisive Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition. GTA 4 is playable on Xbox through backward compatibility, but is currently unavailable on PS4 and PS5.
Besides Lazlow not being in the game, GTA 6 will mark the end of an era for the franchise for other reasons. For example, it will likely have its own online multiplayer component, which will likely be the beginning of the end of major support for the current iteration of GTA Online available through GTA 5.
OpenCritic Reviews
- Released
- November 19, 2026
- ESRB
- Rating Pending - Likely Mature 17+
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar Games
- Publisher(s)
- Rockstar Games
