Games like GTA 6: what to play before 19 November, picked by the part of GTA you love

02 / Time budget

Start with the time you have left

There are 27 days between 23 October and GTA VI's launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on 19 November 2026. At ten hours of play a week that is room for one game of 15 to 30 hours, or two short ones. It is not enough for a 50 hour RPG unless you play most evenings.

The lengths below are HowLongToBeat main-story averages read on 23 October 2026. They are community averages, not official figures, and anyone who clears side content will play much longer.

• Under 15 hoursMafia: Definitive Edition (10.5 h), Mafia: The Old Country (12 h), Saints Row: The Third Remastered (13.5 h) and Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition (14.5 h).
• 15 to 35 hoursVice City (16.5 h), Red Dead Redemption (17.5 h), Watch Dogs 2 (19.5 h), Cyberpunk 2077 (26 h), Yakuza 0 Director's Cut (31 h) and Grand Theft Auto V (32 h).
• Over 50 hoursRed Dead Redemption 2 (51 h) and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (57 h). Both are worth it, but they will still be running when GTA VI arrives.

03 / Rockstar first

Rockstar's own games are the closest thing to GTA VI

Nothing else is built quite like a Rockstar game: a dense world that keeps moving when you ignore the mission marker, long character-led stories and a lot of small details. None of these is required homework. Rockstar's official premise for GTA VI introduces new leads, Jason and Lucia, in a new story across the state of Leonida.

There is a cheap legal route to several of them. Rockstar's GTA+ membership includes a rotating Games Library that lists Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption, GTA: Vice City Definitive Edition, L.A. Noire and more on 23 October 2026, limited to the platform where your membership is active. A digital GTA VI pre-order on PlayStation Store or Xbox Store includes one free month of GTA+. PlayStation's offer terms say you can claim it at a time of your choosing after the purchase, up to 31 March 2027, and that it continues as a paid monthly subscription unless you cancel. On Xbox the month must be redeemed within 180 days of the pre-order.

• Grand Theft Auto VThe direct predecessor: a street hustler, a retired bank robber and a psychopath pulling heists in a satirical Los Santos. Rockstar lists PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, and it is in the GTA+ Games Library. Main story about 32 hours.
• Red Dead RedemptionThe original western about former outlaw John Marston, first released in 2010 and now on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, PC and mobile according to Rockstar. At about 17.5 hours it is the Rockstar story most likely to fit before launch.
• Red Dead Redemption 2Rockstar's huge 1899 western, and a gang story about loyalty. It is a PS4 and Xbox One game that runs on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, plus PC. PlayStation Store US lists it in the PlayStation Plus Extra catalog on 23 October 2026. At about 51 hours, start it only if you play daily.

04 / Crime story

If you play GTA for the crime story

Rockstar's premise for GTA VI is an easy score that goes wrong and drags Jason and Lucia into a criminal conspiracy. If that is your hook, pick a game where the story is the spine and the open world serves it.

Oruvai's read: these three are more linear than GTA. That is an advantage right now, because a story with an ending is easier to finish before 19 November than a sandbox you could lose weeks in.

• Mafia: Definitive EditionA ground-up remake of the 1930s story of cab driver Tommy Angelo inside the Salieri crime family. 87% of English Steam reviews are positive on 23 October 2026. PC, PS4 and Xbox One, with separate PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions in both stores. Main story about 10.5 hours, the shortest pick here.
• Mafia: The Old CountryA third-person mob story in 1900s Sicily built around cinematic missions. Steam tags it Linear, and its English reviews are 70% positive on 23 October 2026, clearly below the older remake. PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Main story about 12 hours.
• Sleeping Dogs: Definitive EditionUndercover cop Wei Shen works his way into the Hong Kong Triads, with martial-arts fights, gunfights and street races in a neon city. 95% positive on Steam on 23 October 2026. PC, Mac, PS4 and Xbox One. PlayStation Store warns the PS4 version may show errors on PS5, so PS5 owners should pick Mafia instead. Main story about 14.5 hours.

05 / City and chaos

If you play GTA to mess around in a city

For many players the missions are a break from the real game: stealing a car, outrunning the police and seeing what the city does back. These picks give you a large city and the freedom to make a mess, each with a different twist on GTA's formula.

• Cyberpunk 2077Night City is a huge, dense open city, with driving, gunfights and a strong main cast. It plays in first person, which is the biggest change from GTA. 89% positive on Steam on 23 October 2026. PC, Mac, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2 (Ultimate Edition). Main story about 26 hours.
• Watch Dogs 2A comic take on San Francisco tech culture, where hacking cars, drones and the city grid replaces a lot of the shooting. Steam lists co-op. PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Main story about 19.5 hours.
• Saints Row: The Third RemasteredThe series that turned GTA's chaos into open parody, with tank skydiving and airstrikes in the city of Steelport. The remaster is only 70% positive on Steam on 23 October 2026. PC, PS4, PS5 and Xbox One. Main story about 13.5 hours.

06 / Sun and neon

If you want satire, big characters and Vice City sun and neon

Rockstar sells GTA VI's setting as the darkest side of the sunniest place in America. Two series come closest to that mix of bright surfaces, crime and comedy, and one of them is Rockstar's own.

• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, The Definitive EditionTommy Vercetti's 1980s rise in the neon city GTA VI returns to. Its mission design is older, and the remaster is 80% positive on Steam on 23 October 2026. On PC it is sold on its own; on PlayStation it comes inside Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy, which is also sold on Xbox and Switch. Also in the GTA+ Games Library. About 16.5 hours.
• Yakuza 0 Director's CutA 1988 crime drama across the neon entertainment districts of Tokyo and Osaka, with discos, arcades and absurd side stories between fights. It is a brawler you play on foot, not a driving game. PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2. About 31 hours.
• Like a Dragon: Infinite WealthThe sunniest pick: a crime comedy that moves from Japan to Hawaii. Steam tags its combat turn based, a real change from GTA. PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. At about 57 hours it is one to start after launch, or now if you play on PC and face a longer wait.

07 / Verdict

Which game to start tonight

On PS5 or Xbox Series X|S, the safest single pick is Mafia: Definitive Edition. It has native versions on both consoles, a complete crime story and the shortest main story here. If you pre-ordered GTA VI digitally on PlayStation, where the offer terms let you claim the free GTA+ month whenever you choose, playing Vice City or Red Dead Redemption from the Games Library costs nothing extra, as long as you cancel before it renews.

On PC or Xbox, Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition is the best all-rounder, with a crime story, a dense city and street races in about 14.5 hours. If you want the satire most, Yakuza 0 Director's Cut is the funnier choice, but it takes twice as long.

PC players face a longer wait, because GTA VI has no PC version announced as of 23 October 2026. For them the long games make more sense: Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077 or Infinite Wealth will not feel rushed.

Best fit: one focused 10 to 30 hour game picked by the part of GTA you miss most. Think twice if: you start Red Dead Redemption 2 or Infinite Wealth now and expect to finish before 19 November.