GTA 6’s Cover Upholds Rockstar’s 25-Year Tradition of Quirkiness

Rockstar Games has unveiled the cover for Grand Theft Auto 6, and the first thing I did was check for a helicopter in the top left corner of the artwork. Sure enough, it’s there! It’s great to see Rockstar sticking to this tradition that’s been a staple for nearly 25 years.

On June 18, Rockstar announced that pre-orders for GTA 6 would open on June 25 across various console storefronts and retailers. While they didn’t drop a new trailer with this announcement, they did share the game’s official cover, which you can check out below:

And right there in the top left is that helicopter, just as I hoped. This little design quirk has been a fun Easter egg on almost every GTA cover since 2001.

As I’ve pointed out before, since the launch of Grand Theft Auto III on the PS2, Rockstar has consistently featured a helicopter in the top left corner of all its GTA covers, with a few odd exceptions.

Technically, the international versions of GTA 3’s cover didn’t have a helicopter in that spot, but that cover also skipped the iconic grid layout with various images. So who cares about that unattractive cover? GTA Advance on the GBA also left out the heli, but its cover was just the GTA logo on a dull grey background, so again, who cares about that bland design?

There is one grid-based GTA cover that doesn’t feature a helicopter in the top left corner. Can you guess which one? Well, the answer is coming up right now: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. That’s the one instance where Rockstar opted not to include the heli.

Some might argue it’s because you couldn’t pilot helicopters in GTA: Chinatown Wars, which came out on the Nintendo DS and PSP in 2009, but that doesn’t really hold up. You couldn’t fly helis in Grand Theft Auto 3 either, yet it still made the cover. Maybe Rockstar just wanted to experiment with a cover without a helicopter. Personally, I’m not a fan of that choice.

I’m thrilled to see the helicopter return for GTA 6’s cover art. It’s a nostalgic touch and a reassuring constant in these unpredictable times. No matter what, I can always expect to see that heli in the top left of a new GTA game. And who knows, maybe there’ll be a motorcycle in the top right corner too, though that’s a less common pattern Rockstar follows. Feel free to share that tidbit and impress… someone. Maybe.