GTA VI is in the final stages of development. And even though Rockstar has been tight-lipped about specific dates, project status, and other features, the hype is in the air. Every time some information or possible technical issue about the upcoming game is leaked, the Internet burns, trending topics skyrocket, and gamers wonder if this new installment will be a revolution in the industry like all the others.
To answer these questions, or at least to get you started, we’ve scoured the web for everything we know about the future of GTA VI. Where no data exists, we’ve made educated guesses based on the various possibilities on the table. Here’s everything we know (or think we know) about GTA VI.
What Is the Release Date for GTA VI?
The game will be released in 2025 for PS5 and Xbox. That’s what Rockstar said in the first trailer.
We knew something before the announcement: Rockstar claimed that the game had been in development since before April 2020. If we make a comparison, ‘GTA V’ began development in 2008 and was released in 2013, giving GTA VI a tentative date of 2025. Rockstar seemed too pseudo-confirm this by talking about releases that will “set new standards in our industry” for fiscal year 2025, well into 2024.
Another detail provided by Rockstar that made us think that we would not have to wait five years of development is that the company has already announced that the game will have a “more contained” size and that it will grow over time, which suggests a development not as complex as that of previous chapters. Now, Rockstar employees have already been asked to stop teleworking and return to office for the final months of development.
What Platforms Will GTA 6 Release On?
We can say with almost complete certainty (although there is nothing official) that we will see GTA VI on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, as stated in the first trailer, and with certainty, but sometime after the initial release –as is usual for Rockstar–, on PC. It is doubtful that the studio will waste time bringing the game to PS4 and Xbox One, although the history of the franchise and its multiplicity of formats allows certain doubts.
The low stock of Sony and Microsoft consoles made some analysts think that 2024 is still too early for a launch.
Is There a Trailer?
So far, both GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 have had a trailer released a few days after the game was announced. But this time, the announcement was made through a post on a community forum, without much ceremony. Sometime later, on December 1 and through social networks, it was informed that the first trailer would arrive on December 5. However, a leak changed the plans of Rockstar Games, and the first trailer of the game is already among us.
What Settings are Being Considered for this Release?
Vice City and the state of Leonida are what the trailer confirms. Before that, there were rumors, some more reliable than others. There is talk of a monstrous mapping (despite other sources that speak of a more contained space with successive expansions), and the specialized channel Inside Gaming speaks of the project being developed under the code name ‘Project Americas’.
For some time now, the possibility has been discussed that it could be distributed not only throughout the country but directly throughout the American continent. Tom Henderson has already said that it might not go that far.
The game’s theme is supposedly related to drug trafficking, which would make sense for a return to Vice City, as Rockstar’s Miami would be particularly appropriate as a bridge between the two Americas. Other rumors (such as a now-defunct Reddit post) spoke of different periods and new cities, such as one based in Rio de Janeiro. Again, Henderson disagreed. The same leak also talked about a female protagonist for the first time in the series’ history, of Latin origin, and another character that would turn the plot into a story with Bonnie and Clyde influences.
Finally, there may be the possibility of leaving the United States. In a 2013 interview with Dan Houser, he stated that “right now it seems like the DNA of GTA is contemporary, American, English-speaking because that’s what it was... But it’s not necessarily limited to that, it’s just what we’ve done so far.” In other words, the doors are open to about any scenario. And in any case, Dan Houser, co-founder of Rockstar and mastermind behind GTA since the series’ inception, is no longer with the company, having left in 2020.
In any case, it would be a more restrained GTA from the start, with regular updates, a bit to counteract the enormous crunch that the studio’s workers suffered with Red Dead Redemption 2. We may see a GTA that is not so ambitious and extensive from the start, with a more modest base game and content that will be added over the months.
What Kind of Graphics Engine Will the Game Use?
An improved version of the usual RAGE9 from Rockstar Games. Chris Klippel said in statements reported by T3 that it would be ahead of its time and that “it will probably be pretty incredible”. He also states that “apparently the goal is to surpass Unreal Engine.” And yes, before you ask, the overwhelming level of detail seen in the first teaser is real: most of what you see in the trailer is taken from authentic gameplay footage, not cinematics, as commented by a graphic designer who worked at Rockstar.
What About GTA Online?
It seems more or less obvious that GTA Online is here to stay. Its monumental success and the way it has grown regardless of the intentions of its creators make it obvious that it will still be around. On the other hand, GTA VI will be dedicated to the single-player experience, or at least that part of the game will continue existing. As some experts have said, it is possible that the tools for facilitating role-playing, which have given it so much life lately, will be improved.
In the Q3 2021 report, Rockstar CEO Strauss Zelnick stated that they want to “create a strong single-player experience, a story-driven experience. And Rockstar has always been known for great storytelling and great single-player experiences,” but without closing themselves off to the opportunities that multiplayer has opened for them in recent years.
And no Leaks?
Yes, a big one in mid-September 2021 published on the GTA forums 3GB of material spread over 90 videos that a Bloomberg journalist confirmed through Rockstar sources that they were real. The videos feature a female protagonist and Vice City-style sun and beach scenes. It's unfinished footage, lacking some polish in textures and modeling, but the basics are there. There are also conversations with minor characters that are remarkably reminiscent of Red Dead Redemption 2.
Five days after the leak, on September 23, London police arrested a 17-year-old in the Oxfordshire area. The FBI said he was responsible for the hack because he had a history of breaking into the Uber website. To the original charge is added conspiracy for attacking two separate computer systems. He did not act alone, but with the Laspus$ group, which has a considerable criminal history: Uber, Microsoft, Cisco, Samsung, Nvidia, Okta, and other companies. In March 2022, he was arrested for stealing $ 14 million through hacking. The young man denies the charges.
On the other hand, in recent months there have been many reports that, as always in these cases, must be taken with a grain of salt. The Xfire website erroneously indicated 2024 as the year of release. They said that we would return to Vice City as well as Carcer City (where the events of ‘Manhunt’ take place), and we would see new cities such as those inspired by Cuba, Colombia, and Brazil, where the game’s prologue is set.
The story would focus on two twin siblings, male and female, who were separated after the death of their parents at the hands of a cartel in 2003 (this would confirm something that Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier would take for granted: GTA V’s iconic three-character split is gone). When they meet again in the present, they are on opposing sides: he is an agent of Rockstar’s version of the DEA, and she wants revenge by moving up the organizational chart of the cartel that ended her parents’ lives. Among the technologies the game may feature are buildings that reflect damage after combat. However, this plot seems to be ruled out with the first trailer, where the two protagonists are certainly lovers.
A later leak, from the also reliable Idle Sloth, came in the form of a Google Doc with a wealth of data. Some of what it reveals are the duration (75 hours), the size of the map (140mi2), the budget (about $500 million, plus $100 for marketing), an estimated announcement date (third quarter of 2023) and a release date (last quarter of 2024, already discarded), some planned leisure activities (gambling, golf, sailing, tennis, chess, basketball, bowling, strip clubs, movie theater, and arcade) and some details about police interventions (guns, dogs, riot control, tear gas, search level up to 6 stars and search and seizure zones like in Red Dead Redemption 2).
There is also news regarding the map, this time on Reddit by user u/tusstaster (via Sportskeeda), who compares the leaked map to that of GTA V and suggests that it will be a much larger terrain while maintaining the Vice City-style setting.
The last official news from Rockstar executives about the game dates to May 2023, when Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick talked about Rockstar Games’ ambitious goals for the game in an interview with The Aarthi and Sriram Show. He said, “a challenge that the people at Rockstar face every time there’s a new version of Grand Theft Auto is, on the one hand, it must be something that you’ve never seen before, and it must reflect the feeling that we have about GTA. Well, Rockstar’s answer is to strive for perfection; to strive for nothing less than perfection.”
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