With under two weeks to go until the release of Grand Theft Auto VI for PS5 and Xbox , Rockstar Games has been cranking up the marketing for what's already the most-anticipated video game of all time. The publisher has been rolling out prominent billboards, bus wraps and digital placements globally (including a hand-painted GTA VI mural that was controversially "ruined" in Brooklyn).

Most of the advertising blitz uses familiar key art showing the game's two playable protagonists: Lucia Caminos and Jason Duval. But some of the best GTA VI ads don't show the game at all.…