GTA VI's six radio stations and the first on-foot podcasts

Radio has been a signature of Grand Theft Auto since the 1990s, and on October 8 Rockstar finally showed how it plans to handle it in Grand Theft Auto VI. According to GameSpot, Billboard and Rolling Stone, the first reveal covers six stations, each with a distinct genre and named hosts. It is the clearest look yet at the sound of Leonida.

The lineup is deliberately broad. Cocoteo FM is a Latin music station hosted by Bad Bunny and RaiNao. Back Country Radio is the country station, hosted by Lana Del Rey and Morgan Wallen as DJs Delta Dawne and MW, with Del Rey's husband Jeremy Dufrene voicing a roving reporter called Mud Dog Mike. AfroBank FM pairs Burna Boy with DJ Palms Trax for contemporary and classic African music. The Chamber 106.6 is a heavy-metal station hosted by Slayer's Kerry King and Tom Araya. Flash FM is pop, with Robyn and Alex Consani, and Dirty South Classics brings regional rap and classic hip-hop with Trick Daddy and Trina.

The format change is arguably the bigger news. GameSpot reports that Rockstar also confirmed on-demand podcasts, and that both radio and podcasts can be listened to on foot, not just from a vehicle's dashboard. The reporting describes this as running through headphones or earbuds tied to the characters' phones. That is a genuine design shift: in earlier games, a station only existed when you were behind the wheel, which quietly shaped how players behaved. Letting audio follow the player on foot makes the soundtrack part of everyday movement through Vice City, and it suggests Rockstar wants the world's media to feel like a place rather than a car feature.

It also fits the music direction already established by the trailers. The October 15 Launch Trailer used a new track, Justice's "Flower in a Hurricane" with Tame Impala, SZA and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, according to Push Square and Rolling Stone, which Rockstar commissioned for the soundtrack rather than licensing an existing hit. Taken together, the trailers, the hosts and the podcasts point to an audio identity built around contemporary Florida culture instead of nostalgia alone.

What is still missing is just as telling. Rockstar has not published a track list, so which songs play on which station is unknown. It has not said whether six is the full count; GameSpot's headline frames these as the first six. And while hosts are named, we do not yet know how much time each will spend on air or what the podcasts cover. Treat any detailed track list you see before launch as a guess until Rockstar publishes one.