We Got X Before GTA 6

/wee got eks bih-FOR gee-tee-ay six/

phrase · meme template

A joke template that compares an unexpected event with the long wait for GTA 6.

#internet slang
#meme templates
#GTA 6
#text memes

Meaning

“We Got X Before GTA 6” is a reusable joke in which X names something surprising, unlikely, or noteworthy that happened before the release of Grand Theft Auto 6. The comparison turns the game's long-awaited status into the punchline; it is not a literal claim that the game caused the event. For example: We got a new ocean before GTA 6.[1][3]

1. A playful or ironic comparison: something unexpected happened before the still-awaited game.
2. A variation such as “No way we got X before GTA 6” or “We really got X before GTA 6” keeps the same comparison while changing the emphasis.

A social post reads “We deadass got a whole new ocean before GTA 6” above a news post about the Southern Ocean and a penguin image. — The post plugs a surprising news item, the naming of the Southern Ocean, into the “We got X before GTA 6” pattern. The contrast makes the long wait for the game the punchline. Source

Examples

“We Got X Before GTA 6: my train arrived early.”

“We Got X Before GTA 6 again: the patch is already live.”

“We Got X Before GTA 6: we got a whole new ocean first.”

“This update landed, so We Got X Before GTA 6.”

Origin and spread

The joke draws on the long wait for the next main Grand Theft Auto installment after GTA V. Know Your Meme describes scattered posts using the template before 2023, then points to notable examples in summer 2023: a July TikTok joked about getting aliens before GTA 6, and another example followed in August. A readable X post from June 12, 2020, already compares getting both the PS4 and PS5 before GTA 6. In that post, the eye-roll emoji lends the comparison an exasperated tone. A 2026 research article analyzes the expression as a text-meme: a fixed phrase with a replaceable X that can work in words alone, without an image.[1]

How to use it

Usually playful and ironic, the template can also sound weary when it emphasizes how long the game has been awaited. Its tone depends on the X and surrounding context; the comparison is about timing, not causation. A bare mention of “before GTA 6” is not necessarily the full template.

Exasperation in one early example

The June 2020 PS4-and-PS5 post ends with an eye-roll emoji. That supports an exasperated reading of that particular post, rather than a rule that every use must sound annoyed.[4]

The template needs no image

A research article describes this pattern as a text-meme that can function purely verbally. It can therefore work as a comment or caption without an accompanying image.[3]

The format can become self-aware

Know Your Meme describes a December 2023 Reddit post as ironic and as signaling that the template had become oversaturated by then. This is the explainer's characterization of that post, not a claim about every reader's reaction.[1]

Questions people ask

Does “We Got X Before GTA 6” mean the game caused the event?

No. X is an event or thing being compared in time with the game's release. The joke uses the wait for GTA 6 as the comparison's punchline, not as a cause.[1][3]

Does the meme have to include an image?

No. A research article treats it as a verbal text-meme construction, with a fixed frame and a replaceable X. It can work on its own as text.[3]

When did the template first appear?

Its first use is not established. A contextualized X post dated June 12, 2020, provides an early documented example; Know Your Meme describes notable memes as appearing in summer 2023.[1][4]

Sources

1. Know Your Meme — We Got X Before GTA 6Supports: meaning, origin.
2. Loco Coast — We got X before GTA 6: meaning and origin
3. Journal of Foreign Language Media — Semi-schematic text-memes in digital communicationSupports: form, meaning.
4. Panda Hank on X — June 12, 2020 postSupports: earliest documented use.