We Got X Before GTA 6 — Recursive nested boxes repeating 'WE GOT BEFORE GTA6' with skull emojis

We Got X Before GTA 6

2023catchphrasedeclining

Published October 18, 2026

"We Got X Before GTA 6" is a phrasal template joke that spread on TikTok and Reddit in 2023, poking fun at how long fans have waited for Rockstar's sequel after Grand Theft Auto V's 2013 release. Posts point to any unlikely event, like alleged alien disclosures or a cure for cancer, as having arrived before the game. By December 2023, Reddit's /r/okbuddyretard was posting ironic nonsense versions, signaling how saturated the gag had become.

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Overview

Posts following the format open with "No way we got X before GTA 6" or "We really got X before GTA 6," where X is any news item, invention or absurd clip the poster finds hard to believe1. Early uses leaned on big headlines, like David Grusch's July 2023 testimony to Congress about alleged UFO programs2, while later jokes aimed at mundane targets, from a video of a drunk-looking dog to minor viral oddities6.

Tone sits somewhere between genuine fan frustration and self-aware irony. Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto V in September 2013, and the decade-long gap between installments gave the joke its punch4. Because any "X" can slot in, posters use the line to comment on world events, consumer tech launches or random clips while needling Rockstar about the wait.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter / TikTok (viral spread)
Date
2023

Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto V in September 2013, and fans spent the following decade speculating about a sequel that saw no official reveal until late 20234. Scattered uses of the "We got X before GTA 6" phrasing surfaced on Twitter as early as June 2020 from user @pandahank418, and again in a February 2022 Reddit post on /r/GTA titled "We really having WW3 before GTA 6"1.

That phrasing caught real traction in late July 2023 after Grusch, a former intelligence officer, testified to the House Oversight Committee. On July 26th, 2023, X user @Jazz_2002_ posted one of the earliest notable alien-themed versions, writing that disclosure had beaten GTA 6 to market2.

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How It Spread

On July 27th, 2023, TikToker @jadendunn posted a short clip captioned "We got aliens before GTA 6," which collected over 260,000 plays and 36,000 likes within a year3. A Facebook user named Memeception reposted the same joke that day4. A week later, on August 3rd, 2023, @piepop977 published a TikTok joking that a cure for cancer would arrive first, pulling in over 900,000 plays and 190,000 likes in eight months5.

On November 20th, 2023, X user @kirawontmiss quoted a clip of a dog that appeared drunk with the line "we really got to see a drunk dog before gta 6," collecting over 90,000 likes in five months6. Three weeks later, on December 10th, 2023, Redditor /u/post-death_Wave_Core posted a glitched, barely legible version to /r/okbuddyretard, where ironic recycling of worn-out formats is the subreddit's whole premise. The post gathered over 300 upvotes7, a signal that the format had already saturated.

Timeline

2013-09

Rockstar Games releases Grand Theft Auto V, starting the long wait for a sequel.

2020-06-11

Early Twitter use of the phrasing by user @pandahank41.

2022-02-24

Reddit thread "We really having WW3 before GTA 6" posted to /r/GTA.

2023-07-26

@Jazz_2002_ posts an alien-themed version on X after Grusch's congressional testimony.

2023-07-27

TikToker @jadendunn uploads "We got aliens before GTA 6," an early viral example.

2023-08-03

TikToker @piepop977 jokes about a cure for cancer arriving first.

2023-11-20

X user @kirawontmiss posts the "drunk dog before gta 6" tweet.

2023-12-10

Ironic nonsense version posted to /r/okbuddyretard, marking format saturation.

Frequently Asked Questions