Fans around the world exploded with excitement Monday when Rockstar Games released the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6, the most hotly anticipated game of the decade.

The first look at the next installment in the blockbuster series follows years of feverish speculation about the setting, characters, and atmosphere of GTA 6.

And it came as a surprise, given that Rockstar had announced that it would be released on Tuesday.

A leak on X, however, forced the company's hand to share the trailer ahead of schedule.

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Plenty of questioned remain unanswered, but we now know a bit more about what to expect when the game finally comes out.

Here's what we learned from this sneak peek and what it means for the next big step in a gaming franchise like no other.

The trailer shows Vice City in breathtaking detail – a major upgrade from the graphics in GTA V, released 10 years ago.

This is, of course, a fictional version of Miami, Florida, where the 2002 hit Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was based.

Set to Love Is a Long Road by Tom Petty, the video contains all that fans across the globe have come to love – or hate – about GTA: high-octane chases in fast cars, a vast open world rendered in rich detail, scantily clad women, and numerous references poking fun at social media culture.

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Sam Houser, Rockstar's founder, said GTA 6 "continues our efforts to push the limits of what's possible in highly immersive, story-driven open-world experiences".

For the first time, a GTA game will feature a woman as one of the protagonists. Front and center of the trailer is Lucia, introduced at what appears to be a prison in an orange inmate jumpsuit.

She is later shown partnering with a man – unnamed in the teaser but referred to as Jason in media reports based on content leaked by hackers last year.

The duo are seen breaking into stores wearing masks and racing away in their car from pursuers. One user on Reddit commented: "Major Bonnie and Clyde vibes."

The introduction of Lucia follows decades of criticism against Rockstar over its depiction of women in its games, in particular the lack of agency and the violence and denigration they suffer.

If gamers were thrilled by what they saw of GTA 6, they were left slightly frustrated by the release date revealed at the end of the trailer: 2025.

The game will be released on PlayStation 5, as well as Xbox Series X and Series S, Rockstar said.

It did not mention a PC version.

There appeared to be near-universal praise from fans on social media, and the trailer swiftly became one of the hottest topics online.

"Gave me goosebumps," user @sachinbhujel909 commented on YouTube. "We (have) all been waiting for a good part of our life... RIP to the ones who never made it to see this."

In just six hours, the trailer racked up more than 36 million views on YouTube.

It led to speculation that it might challenge for the record number of views in the first 24 hours – reportedly more than 100 million for the music video for the BTS hit Butter.

GTA 6 and related topics became the top trends worldwide on X soon after the trailer was released, inspiring a flood of memes.