GTA 6: has Grand Theft Auto ever had a woman protagonist - are Franklin, Michael and Trevor in it?

The next Grand Theft Auto game will have a woman protagonist, it has been confirmed. Rockstar Games has premiered the first look at the next title in the series and it will release in 2025.

The highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI will be the first new release in the series since GTA V in 2013. The trailer also confirmed a return to the titular setting of 2002's GTA: Vice City - the franchise's take on Miami and Florida.

Rockstar was hit by a major leak in September last year - which included early footage of the game and other details. A British teenager from Oxfordshire was arrested in connection with the leaks.

Notable game journalist Jason Schreier has previously reported that the protagonists for GTA VI would be a duo of characters influced by Bonnie and Clyde - including a Latino woman. It continues the trend from GTA V of having multiple protagonists.

Here's all you need to know:

Has GTA ever had a woman protagonist before?

The Grand Theft Auto series has not yet had a female lead character. All of the protagonists from Claude in 2001's GTA III through to Michael, Franklin and Trevor in GTA V have been male.

The first GTA game in 1997 featured four female avatars but they were not voice and had no characterisation.

GTA VI will be the first game in the series to feature a female lead in the character of Lucia. She will make up part of a Bonnie and Clyde style duo, according to Jason Schreier.

It would also mark the first major Rockstar game to feature a playable female protagonist. The Red Dead Redemption games have both had male leads in John Martson and Arthur Morgan.

Will Michael, Franklin and Trevor feature in GTA 6?

The game is expected to feature a new pair of protagonists - in a male and female duo. GTA 6 is also reported to be set in Vice City - the franchise's take on Miami - which is a whole continent away from the ficitonal state of San Andreas and the city of Los Santos.

It seems unlikely - but not totally out of the question - that Michael, Franklin and Trevor will appear in the game, but eagle eyed fans will be on the watch out for easter eggs. The only GTA protagonist to appear in a subsequent game is Claude from GTA 3 who appears in 2004's San Andreas.

Fans are hopeful that if GTA 6 is set in Vice City there could be an appearance from previous protagonist Tommy Vercetti - however the prior game was set in the 1980s and the next title in the series is expected to be set in present day 40 years later.