# What to play while you wait for GTA 6

**October 2, 2026 · Perthro**

GTA 6 is out on November 19. Until then, there are plenty of games that scratch part of the same itch. None of them are GTA, and that's fine: what you want from a Grand Theft Auto game is usually one specific thing, whether that's a city to get lost in, a crime story, a car and a radio, or a sense of humour aimed at modern America.

So this list is sorted by that. Pick the section that sounds like why you're excited for GTA 6, and start there.

## If you want a city that feels alive

**Cyberpunk 2077.** CD Projekt Red's Night City is one of the densest open-world cities ever built, and after years of updates and the Phantom Liberty expansion, the game is in far better shape than it was at its rough 2020 launch. It's first person and more of an RPG than GTA, but walking through its streets at night is as close as anything gets to the feeling of a Rockstar city.

![Cyberpunk 2077 screenshot: Night City at night](https://perthro.io/assets/blog/13a0ea853147ecb8.jpg)

**Watch Dogs 2.** Ubisoft's San Francisco and Bay Area is bright, satirical and fun to wander, with a tone that sits closer to GTA than most of its competitors. It's also been cheap for years.

**Yakuza 0.** Kamurocho is a few blocks of Tokyo, not a whole state, but it's packed with detail, side stories and places to waste an evening. If you want density over size, this is the pick.

## If you want a crime story

**Mafia: Definitive Edition.** The 2020 remake of the original Mafia is a linear crime drama set in a 1930s American city. It's shorter and more focused than GTA, with a story that plays it straight.

**Sleeping Dogs.** An undercover cop in Hong Kong, caught between the police and the triads. It came out in 2012 and still holds up because the story, the martial-arts combat and the city all fit together. It's often called the best GTA-like that never got a sequel.

![Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition screenshot: Hong Kong streets](https://perthro.io/assets/blog/c85dd993ac502186.jpg)

**Red Dead Redemption 2.** Rockstar's last game, and the clearest look at how the studio tells a long story in an open world. It's slower than GTA, and deliberately so, but it's the best look at where Rockstar's design is now.

## If you want to drive with the radio on

**Forza Horizon 6.** Playground Games moved the festival to Japan this year, and the map is one of the best in the series. It's pure driving, no crime, but if the part of GTA you love is taking a car down a coastal road at sunset, this does it better than anything. We wrote about [why the Japan setting works](/blog/2026-05-14-forza-horizon-6-japan).

**Grand Theft Auto V.** It's still here, it still runs well on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, and the driving and radio stations hold up. If you haven't played it in years, an evening of driving around Los Santos is a good way to get in the mood.

## If you want the satire and the chaos

**Saints Row: The Third Remastered.** Saints Row went from GTA rival to full cartoon, and The Third is the peak of that. It's loud, stupid and very funny, a good palate cleanser if you want an open-world crime game that doesn't take anything seriously.

**Hotline Miami.** Not an open world at all, but a short, violent top-down game set in a neon version of 1989 Miami. It's a few hours long, and its style owes a lot to the same 1980s Miami that GTA: Vice City drew on. With GTA 6 heading back to Vice City, it's a fitting appetizer.

![Hotline Miami screenshot: neon top-down violence in 1989 Miami](https://perthro.io/assets/blog/2da2cc490da6cbaa.jpg)

## If you want something short

If you're trying to clear space before November, pick something you can finish in a weekend or two: Hotline Miami, Mafia: Definitive Edition, or Sleeping Dogs if you skip the side content. Our guide on [clearing your backlog before GTA 6](/blog/2026-09-28-clear-your-backlog-before-gta-6) has a plan for making the most of the weeks left.

## One rule for waiting

Whatever you pick, try not to start something you know will take 80 hours. The worst place to be on November 19 is halfway through another huge open world, feeling like you should finish it first. Choose something you can wrap up, and if you want help narrowing it down, our guide on [how to choose what game to play next](/blog/2026-05-26-choose-what-to-play-next-crowded-release-week) walks through it.