GTA 6: Everything you have to know about!
As one of Rockstar’s most popular franchises, Grand Theft Auto, also known as GTA, is frequently updated with new information. Fans who can’t wait for the latest GTA appear to be getting closer to reality. Although it hasn’t been confirmed by Rockstar, some of the rumors circulating in cyberspace may be coming true. Furthermore, Rockstar has reportedly posted a massive job opening to work on their latest project.
GTA 6 has been confirmed, officially, by Rockstar Games, and although we don't know when it's going to come out, at least we know there is going to be a GTA 6. We also know that Rockstar has some seriously high ambitions for its next game - as always.
As part of a recent earnings call, Rockstar's parent company Take-Two Interactive states that GTA 6 development is "well underway, [and] the Rockstar Games team is determined to once again set creative benchmarks for the series, our industry, and for all entertainment, just as the label has done with every one of their frontline releases." That's according to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, specifically, so it's going to be one to watch, as you'd hope.
Back in February, developer Rockstar Games snuck the fact that "active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway" into the bottom of a Newswire blog post(opens in new tab), so it's unclear how far exactly the game is along in development.
For years now there have been so many GTA 6 rumors and gossip doing the rounds that it feels surreal to have anything officially confirmed. We've had leaks suggesting elements of the game's story, setting, features, and other details, so it will be exciting to see what's revealed next by Rockstar.
The last bit of info fans got was from a Rockstar job listing, which hints at incredible detail and "large-scale destruction" for GTA 6. That could be quite the upgrade from what you can currently experience in GTA 5 and GTA Online. Plus, interestingly, GTA fans think this San Andreas easter egg is their first look at GTA 6, so potentially some kind of official reveal might come later this year.
When could the GTA 6 release date be?
Long story short: if Rockstar had announced GTA 6 the day after Red Dead Redemption 2 came out (October 26, 2018 - put it in your diary), then based on historical delays between console GTA announcements and release, we’d be waiting around 22 months – so August 2020. Of course, Rockstar didn't do that. It didn't do anything, in fact, until February 2022 when Rockstar confirmed it was working on the game. That makes it difficult to predict any sort of release window. However, a new leak suggests that it won't arrive before the end of 2024.
The latest gossip is that the GTA 6 release date will be sometime in 2025. That comes with the tip that the game is set in a modern-day version of Vice City, that will expand and change over time. That goes against earlier rumors that stated GTA 6 could launch in October 2023 and be set in Miami. That's from a dubious online source though, but additional details from that leak including a single, male protagonist, with the game being set in the 1970s, with a chaptered story like Red Dead Redemption 2. Combine that with Rockstar teasing fans with the official Rockstar Support account is telling us to "stay tuned" for GTA 6 updates on Twitter and it just keeps getting more exciting.
What will the GTA 6 setting be?
There have been several rumors about potential GTA 6 location spots, including heading back to Vice City or being set across the entirety of the US. However, the latest rumor from August 2022 suggests that GTA 6 originally included four protagonists and three cities, but has since been scaled back. However, that doesn't stop elements of rumors that have circulated until this point from being potentially true. One such rumor that arrived in June 2021 suggest that the GTA 6 setting will be a modern-day recreation of Vice City - a rumor that has been later corroborated by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier.
In March 2021, Tom Henderson, a tipster with a great track record, stated that GTA 6 will be set in the modern-day. When asked by someone on Twitter, Henderson retweeted their question and simply said “It’s not set in the 1980s and is modern”.
This has seemingly been corroborated by an image of a house that has appeared in the remastered edition of GTA San Andreas. The photo of the house was a brand new addition to the game, and caused speculation that it was a tease for GTA 6. However, allegedly someone has been able to verify that it is indeed from GTA 6, which adds fuel to the idea that it's set in modern-day Vice City.
Another separate potential leak on Fireden though, suggests it's a modern-day Liberty City setting for GTA 6, with the beginning of the game reminiscent of TV show, The Wire. It does suggest it's also based on a drug ring, making that a consistent theme of all the leaks.
Way back a few years ago, reports of a London setting for GTA 6 originated via Rockstar Games, putting the next game potentially right on the doorstep of its own studio. Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser said the following back in September 2013 in an interview with Polygon:
“At the moment, it feels like GTA’s DNA is contemporary-ish, American-ish, English-speaking-ish, because that’s what it has been… but that doesn’t necessarily limit it to those, that’s just what we’ve done so far.”
This led many to speculate that GTA may be seeking outside inspiration, or even returning to the UK. However.
According to a source speaking to TechRadar back in March 2016, Rockstar visited the Japanese capital as a reference trip for a game entitled GTA: Tokyo several years ago. Apparently the idea for the game was eventually pulled, but before that the studio met up with locals, took a ton of pictures and wanted to get a good feel for the city before embarking on that particular gaming journey.
The source stated that Rockstar was "serious" about a game with a Japanese setting, and even went as far as to trademark the names GTA: Toyko, GTA: Bogota and also, mysteriously, GTA: Sin City back in 2003. That was around the time of GTA 3 and Vice City, but the road system was seen as a problem and was just one of the reasons why the idea was eventually abandoned.
The GTA 6 rumors are pretty far-reaching right now, so let’s start with some historical insight. So far, GTA games have been set in the following locations:
Liberty City – GTA 3, GTA 4, Lost and Damned, The Ballad of Gay Tony
Vice City – GTA Vice City
San Andreas / Los Santos – GTA: San Andreas, GTA 5
What has Rockstar said about GTA 6 on the record?
Rockstar North’s former President teased the next series entry back in 2013 in a four-part interview with Develop(opens in new tab) magazine, which got the online rumor mill started:
“We don’t know what GTA 6 will be, but we’ve got some ideas,” said Benzie's in the interview. “We’ve got about 45 years’ worth of ideas we want to do. We’ll pick the right ones. It comes from the idea first. Where it is going to be set is the first question. That then defines the missions; you’re doing different things in LA than in New York or Miami. The map and story get worked up together, and the story is a basic flow of how it works out so you can layer the mission in."
Of course, Benzie's didn’t give much away about what form GTA 6 will take and left Rockstar North in fairly acrimonious circumstances. However, it’s unlikely that Rockstar will rip up the GTA series’ tried-and-tested development process, where building a world comes first with characters and structures layered on top. GTA 5 was created by 1000+ developers based across studios worldwide, so it’d be a brave move to change the template.
It's pretty clear at this stage that GTA 6 will be a PS5 and Xbox Series X release, especially in light of the upcoming GTA 5 next-gen post for the console and PC. However, whether a GTA 6 PC port will be released at the same time as its console counterparts isn't quite as straightforward.
GTA 5 and GTA 4 both eventually made their way to PC, so you'd hope that a GTA 6 PC port also happens. It may not have a simultaneous launch, but that extra bit of polish and development time has paid off so far, so hopefully PC fans are willing to wait a little bit again.
While waiting for more information from Rockstar, check out our 3D Prints here!