GTA 6's giant Paris banner took away Lucia's gun

The giant GTA 6 banner hanging from one of the Les Mercuriales towers, next to the Paris ring road, recreates the official cover art with two edits: Lucia has lost her pistol (and her hand) and Raul Bautista his assault rifle. Rockstar hasn't said a word, and its murals in the US still show the guns. Here's what changed, where the banner is and why it might have happened.

What's missing from the GTA 6 banner in Paris?

Put the official GTA 6 cover art next to the Paris banner and play spot the difference. There are two, and both of them shoot. Or used to:

• Lucia's pistol. In the top panel, the one with the two leads, Lucia has her arm around Jason with a pistol in her hand. In Paris there's no pistol… and no hand either.
• Raul Bautista's rifle. In the bottom panel, the bank robber holds an assault rifle across his chest. On the banner his arm is still raised, but there's nothing in it.

Everything else is untouched: the helicopter, the bike pulling a wheelie, the alligator in the middle, the flamingo, the yellow sports car and, right at the bottom, the release date in French: "19 novembre 2026". The side-by-side that Kotaku put together makes it crystal clear:

ProtagonistLucia CaminosHer father taught her to fight as soon as she could walk, and life has been swinging at her ever since. Standing up for her family landed her in the Leonida Penitentiary, and sheer luck got her out. Fresh out of prison, Lucia has learned her lesson: only smart moves from here.

Bank robberRaul BautistaConfidence, charm and cunning. Raul is a seasoned bank robber always on the hunt for talent ready to take the biggest risks for the biggest rewards.

Where is the banner and when did it go up?

On one of the Les Mercuriales towers at Porte de Bagnolet, right next to the Périphérique, the ring road around Paris. In other words, in full view of the thousands of cars that drive past every day.

Installation started in early October: by the 6th, photos of workers hanging off the façade and putting the image up strip by strip were already doing the rounds on X. By the 14th the main banner was almost done and a second one had started going up on the side of the tower, and on Thursday the 15th it was finished. That's when fans compared the final result with the cover art and noticed something didn't add up.

Why did Rockstar remove the guns in Paris?

Rockstar hasn't explained it, and there's no sign it will. What is clear is that the edit only applies to Paris: the murals in the US, like the one in New York, keep the guns from the cover, and Rockstar didn't hold back one bit with its Miami takeover.

The cost of the edit is aesthetic. Removing a gun sounds like a five-minute job, but on a GTA cover, where every panel is built around the character's pose, it leaves gestures that no longer make sense: Lucia hugs Jason with an arm that ends in nothing, and Raul looks like he's pointing at something in the sky. Once you see it, you can't unsee it.

Does this change anything in the game or the cover coming to Europe?

No. This is outdoor advertising, not the game. GTA 6 launches in Europe the same as everywhere else: on 19 November 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with a PEGI 18 rating that already warns there's violence (and plenty of it). Rockstar revealed the cover art in June, alongside the pre-order date, and hasn't announced a different version for Europe.

It is, though, proof that the launch campaign has crossed the Atlantic. After the launch trailer, the US murals and the Miami takeover, Paris is the first major European city to get its own big GTA 6 moment. With a small asterisk.