The best GTA 6 memes are mostly about waiting. “We got X before GTA 6” turned the game into a unit of time, delay announcements produced a wave of old-man jokes, and when Rockstar finally showed the cover art, even the White House posted a parody. GTA 6 isn’t out yet, and it has already generated more memes than most games do after launch.
None of that came from nowhere. GTA 5 spent more than a decade building the habits, from Lamar roasting Franklin to jokes about the game being re-released on every new console. GTA 6 inherited the audience and the timing.
Below is a gallery of the memes and reactions that actually spread, with the context behind each one and a link to whoever documented it first. We don’t host the memes here. Follow the source links to see the originals.
Key Takeaways
– The biggest GTA 6 meme is “we got X before GTA 6,” which took off after TikToker @jadendunn joked “we got aliens before GTA 6” following the congressional UAP hearing.
– The first GTA 6 trailer leaked early, Rockstar released it hours ahead of schedule, and it pulled 90.4 million YouTube views in 24 hours, a Guinness-recognised record.
– The latest delay to launch produced the “me and the boys when GTA 6 finally comes out” old-man meme, which passed 700,000 views on X.
– GTA 5 memes like “Lamar roasts Franklin” lasted so long that the original voice actors re-enacted the scene in live action.
– Creators who react to GTA news live are sitting on clip material, but the reaction has to be genuine and the trailer footage kept short.
The best GTA 6 memes
“We got X before GTA 6”
The defining GTA 6 meme. Scattered “before GTA 6” jokes existed for years, but the format locked in after TikToker @jadendunn posted “we got aliens before GTA 6” following David Grusch’s testimony on UAPs before a House Oversight subcommittee.
From there, big news stories started getting the same reply underneath them, on Reddit and TikTok first and then everywhere. The joke works because it needs no explanation. Everyone knows how long the wait has been.
Source: Know Your Meme, “We Got X Before GTA 6”
“We saved America before GTA6”
When Rockstar revealed the official cover art and opened pre-orders, the split-collage style became an instant template. The White House’s official X account posted its own version with four images of Donald Trump and the caption “We saved America before GTA6.”
The Department of Labor and U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted their own takes. Rockstar’s response, when asked about it, was “No comment.”
Sources: Inven Global, Rockstar Intel
“Me and the boys when GTA 6 finally comes out”
After Rockstar pushed GTA 6 back again, X filled up with jokes about fans aging while they wait. The most shared was a photo of a group of elderly men captioned “Me and the boys when GTA 6 finally comes out,” which passed 700,000 views.
Another showed an elderly man with a birthday cake reading 73 and cleared 1.3 million views. A third predicted Rockstar announcing yet another delay the night before launch.
Source: LA Mag
“That’s not real life, that’s GTA 6 gameplay”
A long-running format: someone posts real footage of a police chase or a car crash and labels it GTA 6 gameplay. It works because the trailers look real enough that the line between the two is the joke.
Source: Know Your Meme, Grand Theft Auto VI
The Florida Joker wants a word
The first trailer included a tattooed man who looked a lot like Lawrence Sullivan, known online as the “Florida Joker” since his mugshot went viral. Sullivan posted a TikTok holding up his photo next to a screenshot from the trailer: “GTA we got to talk. If not, you got to give me like a mil or two.”
Viewers also spotted trailer scenes that echoed famous Florida viral clips, including an alligator wandering into a convenience store.
Sources: Video Games Chronicle, Yahoo News
Want to turn your own reaction to GTA news into a clip? The GTA 6 clip maker reframes a horizontal clip to 9:16 for Shorts and TikTok in the browser.
GTA 5 memes that never died
GTA 6 memes only work because GTA 5 trained the audience. A few GTA 5 memes stayed in circulation long enough to become shorthand.
Lamar roasts Franklin
In an early story mission, Lamar tears into Franklin on his front porch, including the line about Franklin’s “yee-yee ass haircut.” The cutscene became one of the most remixed GTA 5 memes, with fans swapping in other characters and voices. It ran so long that Slink Johnson (Lamar) and Shawn Fonteno (Franklin) re-enacted it in live action, matching the original lines and camera angles.
Sources: Know Your Meme, TheGamer
GTA 5, now on yet another console
GTA 5 launched on PS3 and Xbox 360, came back for PS4, Xbox One and PC, then came back again for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Every new version brought the same joke: Rockstar would keep re-releasing GTA 5 forever instead of making GTA 6. It sits right next to the Skyrim re-release meme as gaming’s favourite complaint about ports.
Source: GTA Boom, GTA V editions
“We got a GTA V billionaire before GTA VI”
The two games collided when a GTA Online player hit a billion in-game dollars after a decade of grinding. The community didn’t congratulate him so much as use him as proof of how long the wait had been.
Source: Sportskeeda
If your GTA 5 footage is more crashes and chases than memes, our guide to the funniest GTA 5 moments covers what makes that kind of chaos clippable.
GTA 6 reaction moments
The GTA 6 reaction cycle has a pattern. Rockstar posts something, and streamers go live to watch it with chat.
The leak that forced an early release
The first trailer was scheduled for a set premiere, then leaked online with a crypto watermark across the footage. Rockstar responded by releasing the official version hours early, which meant millions of people reacted at once instead of at a planned time. Streamers who had been waiting for the premiere went live as soon as it dropped.
Source: Push Square
xQc’s reaction VOD gets pulled
xQc reacted to the trailer live, then Twitch told him to take down the VOD, while reaction VODs from Kai Cenat, Hasan and Asmongold stayed up. His frustration became its own news cycle. It’s also a reminder that reacting to someone else’s footage comes with copyright risk.
Source: Dexerto
Kai Cenat and the Netflix extended look
When Rockstar and Netflix released Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look, a roughly 27-minute showcase, Kai Cenat watched it live. He repeatedly told Rockstar to take his money, and when it ended he howled at the top of his lungs and appeared close to tears. Reactions like that travel as clips far more than the stream itself.
Source: Complex
GTA 6 trailer reactions
Trailer 1: records and Tom Petty
The first trailer, set to Tom Petty’s “Love Is a Long Road,” pulled 90,421,491 YouTube views in its first 24 hours. Guinness recognised it as the most-viewed video game reveal on YouTube in 24 hours, and it became the most-viewed non-music YouTube video in a day. A lot of the reaction centred on how real Vice City looked. One Reddit comment that got passed around simply said “it looks real.”
Sources: Push Square, Yahoo News
Trailer 2: joy and existential despair
The second trailer, focused on Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, drew more than 475 million views across platforms in 24 hours, according to Rockstar. The reactions split. Plenty were hype about the graphics. Others turned dark, with comments like “It’s crazy and sad to think that there are people who are watching this trailer who wont make it to see the game release,” followed by “Cherish every day you have.”
Sources: GTA Boom, Film Stories
That split shows up in a lot of GTA 6 trailer reactions: excitement about the game, and gallows humour about how long it took.
Why GTA moments become memes so easily
GTA has an unfair advantage when it comes to memes:
- The wait is the joke. More than a decade between main entries gave the internet a running gag that needs no setup.
- The setting is already a meme. Florida Man headlines existed long before Vice City returned. Rockstar leaned into that, so fans fill in the rest.
- The characters are quotable. Lamar’s roast alone has kept GTA 5 in meme rotation for years.
- Rockstar says almost nothing. Long silences between announcements leave space for speculation, and “No comment” becomes part of the joke.
Turn your own GTA reaction into a clip
You don’t have to be a giant GTA creator to turn a reaction into content. A genuine reaction to a trailer, an announcement or a strange moment in your own gameplay can become a strong short-form clip when the context and the reaction are both clear.
A few things separate a reaction clip people share from one they scroll past:
- Give the context fast. The viewer needs to know what you’re reacting to within the first couple of seconds. A caption like “watching the GTA 6 trailer live” does the job.
- Keep the source footage short. The xQc VOD takedown shows the risk of rebroadcasting someone else’s trailer. Your face and your words should be the content, with only as much of the original as the moment needs.
- Keep it real. Audiences can tell when a reaction is performed. Don’t manufacture a scream for the camera. Authentic reactions are the content.
- End on the peak. Cut right after the big moment, not three minutes later when you’re reading chat.
If you already stream GTA or react to GTA news, your best moments are probably buried somewhere inside the full recording. Eklipse AI Highlights scans your Twitch, YouTube or Kick VODs and surfaces potential highlights, so you review a shortlist instead of rewatching hours.
The workflow is simple:
- Stream or record your reaction or GTA session.
- Find candidate moments in the AI shortlist.
- Review each one and keep only the reactions worth posting.
- Edit the clip so it starts with context and ends on the peak.
- Publish in vertical format for TikTok, Shorts or Reels.
No tool catches every reaction, and not every AI suggestion is a keeper. Quiet or slow-building moments are easy to miss. The AI helps you find candidates; you decide what’s worth publishing. The GTA clip maker page shows how that works for GTA streams, from GTA 5 and GTA RP to GTA 6.
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FAQ
What is the most famous GTA 6 meme?
“We got X before GTA 6.” It took off after a TikTok joke about getting aliens before GTA 6 and became the standard reply to any major news story during the long wait.
Why did the White House post a GTA 6 meme?
When Rockstar revealed the GTA 6 cover art, the White House’s X account posted a parody cover featuring Donald Trump with the caption “We saved America before GTA6.” Other government accounts posted their own versions. Rockstar’s only comment was “No comment.”
How many views did the GTA 6 trailer get?
The first trailer got 90.4 million YouTube views in 24 hours, a Guinness-recognised record. Rockstar says the second trailer passed 475 million views across platforms in its first 24 hours.
What are the best GTA 5 memes?
“Lamar roasts Franklin” is the best known, followed by the running joke about GTA 5 being re-released on every new console generation.
Does Eklipse make or host these memes?
No. The memes in this article belong to their original creators and are linked to their sources. Eklipse is a tool for finding and clipping moments from your own streams and VODs.
GTA 6 memes are only getting started
GTA has always produced memes alongside the games themselves. GTA 5 gave the internet Lamar’s roast and a decade of re-release jokes. GTA 6 has turned the wait itself into a meme, from “we got X before GTA 6” to a White House cover parody, before anyone has played it.
Launch will bring a new wave of reactions, and a lot of them will come from creators streaming their first hours in Vice City. If that includes you, Eklipse can help surface the moments worth clipping so you can spend your time playing instead of scrubbing VODs.
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