GTA 6: What we know about Rockstar's next crime adventure

What We Know About Rockstar's Next Crime Adventure 

After years of speculation and rumors, GTA 6 is finally becoming a reality, thanks in part to Rockstar finally confirming in February 2022 that it is working on the next GTA game. A massive in-development gameplay footage leak in September confirmed some of the more popular rumors circulating throughout the year. GTA 6 is still a long way off, but it is in the works.

The sequel to one of the most successful games of all time has a lot to live up to.

GTA 5 sold nearly 110 million copies and crashed the Epic Game Store when it was made available as a weekly freebie, but we're still waiting to find out what the sequel is and when we'll be able to get our hands on it.

However, rumors and leaks have given us a general idea of what to expect in the next installment of the series. According to a large amount of leaked footage from September, GTA 6 appears to have multiple protagonists, as did GTA 5. Vice City locations also appear to be making an appearance.

However, everything here should be taken with a grain of salt, even the leaks confirmed by Rockstar. The GTA 6 that is currently in development may differ significantly from the GTA 6 that we eventually play. However, if you're interested in the rumors of when the game might be released, or what the setting might be like, our list of GTA 6 details should give you a good idea of what is currently known and speculated.

Everything We Know About GTA 6.

After much speculation, Rockstar has officially confirmed that the next GTA game is in the works. In February 2022, Rockstar stated, "We're pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the series is underway." "We look forward to sharing more information as soon as it is available, so please stay tuned to the Rockstar Newswire for official details."

While we wait for an official, larger announcement about the next GTA 6 game, here are all the rumors that have circulated in the years leading up to it.

What Was Contained In The GTA 6 Leaks?

The massive dump of leaked footage may still be floating around, but unless you're obsessed with dissecting debug footage, you're not missing much. Based on what we've seen, this is definitely a GTA game in the works. It's all likely older footage from internal development, not a sneak peek at a finished, polished product. Given how iterative game development is, that most likely does not exist yet.

Here are a few highlights that we might be able to expect in the GTA 6 launch version:

• _ Two playable characters: Lucia and Jason, who are most likely the "Bonnie and Clyde-inspired" crime duo mentioned in previous rumors.
• _ Vice City: The footage includes a modern rail car labeled "Vice City Metro," lending credence to rumors of a return to fictional Florida.
• _ We've seen at least one pedestrian with a smartphone, which seems to dismiss more minor rumors about a possible '80s setting.

Whatever else we can glean from the footage—Lucia committing a robbery at a waffle joint, dialogue options for playable characters, a character seen moving and crawling while prone, and the messaging system called "WhatsUp!"—should be regarded as subject to change until Rockstar chooses to make its public reveal for GTA 6.

When Is GTA 6 Going To Be Released?

We're a long way from being able to guess exact dates at this point, but we might be able to pinpoint a year.

Take-Two Interactive announced the acquisition of mobile game company Zynga in a press release that included a section titled "Strategic Rationale and Stockholder Value Creation." "Looking ahead, the combined company is expected to deliver a 14% compound annual growth rate... over the three years from Take-Fiscal Two's Years 2021 through 2024," the note said.

According to Jefferies analyst Stephen Totilo of Axios(opens in new tab), "There are only a handful of titles that can...provide management with the confidence to put out such a strong guidance; we believe there is at least one Rockstar IP set to be released by FY24." This was followed by a quote from Cowen research analyst Doug Creutz, who believes this points to a "likely GTA 6 launch in FY24." If this is correct, the release date for Grand Theft Auto 6 could be anywhere between the beginning of April 2023 and the end of March 2024.

Back in July 2021, Call of Duty leaker Tom Henderson posted a YouTube video predicting that GTA 6 would be released in 2024 or 2025, and this was confirmed by reporter Jason Schreier, who stated on Twitter that "Everything Tom Henderson has said about the game matches up with what I've heard."

Overall, the rumors point to a 2024 or 2025 release date, but Rockstar's efforts to combat crunch culture, which has plagued previous releases, particularly near the end of development on Red Dead Redemption 2, may push GTA 6 into later years.

Nonetheless, there have been recent indications that GTA 6 development is picking up steam. According to a recent Rockstar(opens in new tab) statement at the end of major themed updates for Red Dead Online, revisions to their live-service strategy were required because the company has been "steadily moving more development resources towards the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series."

What Was Contained In The GTA 6 Leaks?

The massive dump of leaked footage may still be floating around, but unless you're obsessed with dissecting debug footage, you're not missing much. Based on what we've seen, this is definitely a GTA game in the works. It's all likely older footage from internal development, not a sneak peek at a finished, polished product. Given how iterative game development is, that most likely does not exist yet.

Here are a few highlights that we might be able to expect in the GTA 6 launch version:

• _ Two playable characters: Lucia and Jason, who are most likely the "Bonnie and Clyde-inspired" crime duo mentioned in previous rumors.
• _ Vice City: The footage includes a modern rail car labeled "Vice City Metro," lending credence to rumors of a return to fictional Florida.
• _ We've seen at least one pedestrian with a smartphone, which seems to dismiss more minor rumors about a possible '80s setting.

Whatever else we can glean from the footage—Lucia committing a robbery at a waffle joint, dialogue options for playable characters, a character seen moving and crawling while prone, and the messaging system called "WhatsUp!"—should be regarded as subject to change until Rockstar chooses to make its public reveal for GTA 6.

What Other GTA 6 Rumors Have Surfaced?

In the years since GTA 6's release, there has been an endless stream of rumors, some more credible than others. While The Know cited an inside source who put the release date of GTA 6 as 2021-2022—oops—the rumor suggests that the new game will be split between Vice City and South America. Comic Book gave credence to an anonymous Pastebin post that has since been removed, claiming that GTA 6 will feature multiple large cities connected by a vast stretch of land with smaller towns. In this alleged version, the player begins as a small crook and progresses to running a drug-trafficking criminal enterprise.

Then there's the pile of what can charitably be called dubious rumors, which are only worth mentioning as a curiosity. For example, a wild gossip roundup from Christian Today, a cherished beacon of games industry coverage, theorized a 1960s London setting and time travel.

Will GTA 6 Be Available Online?

Los Santos Online in GTA 5 has yet to run out of gas. Rockstar continues to add new activities, content, and events to its massive multiplayer world. Given that GTA 4, GTA 5, and both Red Dead Redemption games had online servers, GTA 6 will as well.

GTA 6 most likely has a female protagonist.

Some rumors have a bit more credibility than others. According to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier(opens in new tab), GTA 6 will have a playable female protagonist for the first time in the series' history. The Latina player character, according to Schreier, is one half of a Bonnie-and-Clyde-style crime duo. According to an Axios source, the game's scope was originally intended to include four playable protagonists and three cities.

Schreier also reports that, as part of Rockstar's broader effort toward political sensitivity, GTA devs are taking greater care in selecting subjects for their satire. According to Schreier, developers are avoiding using marginalized groups as punchlines in GTA 6, hoping to break away from the series' proclivity to "punch down."

This report is supported by leaked development footage from September, which depicts a character named Lucia and another named Jason, who could very well be the starring crime duo.

Take-Two Applied For A Patent That Could Be Related To GTA 6

Take-Two filed a patent in early 2021 called "System And Method For Virtual Navigation In A Gaming Environment" that was related to simulated character pathfinding in large outdoor environments. There's no guarantee that this is related to GTA 6, but it was attributed to Rockstar developers. If it is related to the development of the next GTA, it most likely means that Rockstar intends to make significant improvements to simulated behavior in its next open-world city.

Will GTA 6 Be Released On PC?

It's a fairly safe bet. Rockstar's history with PC versions has been erratic, but the massive popularity of GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC is a compelling reason for the company to take the platform seriously.

And it appears that Rockstar feels the same way, as the Rockstar Games Launcher for PC was released in 2019. It's difficult to believe the studio would release its own game launcher if it didn't intend to host future games, including an assumed GTA 6. Having said that, we can probably expect a delay in the release of GTA 6 on consoles and PCs.

GTA 5 took a year and a half to arrive on PC, and RDR2 took nearly the same amount of time.

Everything is influenced by Rockstar's choice of city and decade. The return of GTA 5 to Los Angeles paves the way for a possible return to Vice City. That theory is becoming more plausible as a result of September 2022 leaks showing a character exiting a rail car labeled "Vice City Metro."

Rumors from July 2021 also suggested that GTA 6 would return to Vice City. According to these reports, GTA 6 will take place in a modernized version of the series' analog for Miami. The map in GTA 6 will evolve or expand over time, possibly through DLC or live game updates, according to these exact predictions. Other sources, including Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, have echoed the Miami prediction.

Leslie Benzies, president of Rockstar North, mentioned Rockstar's trifecta of preferred GTA cities in an interview with Develop in 2013.

Rumors from July 2021 suggested that GTA 6 would return to Vice City. According to these claims, GTA 6 will take place in a modernized version of the series' analog for Miami. These exact predictions stated that GTA 6's map will evolve or expand over time, possibly through DLC or live game updates. According to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, the Miami prediction has been echoed by other sources.

Leslie Benzies, president of Rockstar North, mentioned Rockstar's preferred GTA cities in an interview with Develop in 2013.

Speaking of old GTA cities, a Liberty City scene appeared on a Rockstar dev's profile a few years ago, apparently mocked up in GTA 5's engine. This could easily have been a technical test or a scene from some abandoned single-player DLC, but Rockstar has previously discussed combining all of their cities into one mega-game. That sounds absurdly ambitious, but Rockstar may have the resources to pull it off.

Rockstar Has Recently Posted Hundreds Of Job Openings.

Rockstar has posted literally hundreds of jobs in the last few months on its own careers page(opens in new tab) and industry job board sites like Hitmaker (opens in new tab). In less than 24 hours, 75 job listings were added to the pile. 

The listings cover nearly every aspect of game development and publishing, and while none of them explicitly mention GTA 6, a number of them are intended to provide ongoing support for Rockstar's online offerings. Probably a sign that GTA Online, in some form or another, is here to stay. 

There's no guarantee that all of these postings are about GTA 6, but given Rockstar's recent statements about consolidating development resources for the next Grand Theft Auto installment, it certainly feels like GTA 6 development is picking up steam. Regrettably, all of us who are waiting for the next Rockstar Table Tennis game will have to keep our sad vigil.

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