When is GTA 6 coming out? Rumors, release date, story
With no official news from Rockstar regarding the next installment of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, fans are eagerly anticipating its release and are keeping a keen eye on any ‘leaks’ that surface. From its release to potential storylines (and everything in-between), here’s what we know so far.
Grand Theft Auto V was one of the biggest, best, and most enjoyable video gaming experiences you’re ever likely to have, but it’s been over five years since the game was released, and fans are desperate for information about GTA VI.
Following numerous relatively credible leaks, GTA 6 is slowly etching its way into reality. Former and current employees have at the very least alluded to its existence.
Some of these seem to have been mistakes, such as one former employee listing direct GTA 6 involvement on their resume. Another, which is arguably the most informative leak to date, purposely reveals map information.
The leaks have been frequent in the lead up to E3 2019 with a shock Rockstar announcement rumored for the event.
GTA outselling RDR2
Rockstar have done an excellent job of keeping GTA Online exciting, and the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 on October 26, 2018, was a massive success, but now fans are setting their sights on what comes next.
Despite coming out five years to previous to Red Dead Redemption 2, GTA 5 is still outselling its fellow Rockstar game. According to RDR2, not only is GTA 5 generating more in-game purchases, it is actually outselling it too.
In January 2019, GTA 5 was the fourth best selling game on console, whereas Red Dead Redemption 2 was eighth. This is astonishing considering how long GTA V has been out for. This is all the evidence needed to show that GTA 6 is an eventuality.
When is GTA 6 being released?
Typically speaking, there has always been a gap of around four or five years between Grand Theft Auto titles. Unfortunately, for that pattern to have held true, the new game would have been due for release in 2018.
Given the fact that Red Dead 2 came out in October of 2018, it isn’t surprising we haven’t had a GTA 6 announcement yet. In fact all things Grand Theft Auto 6 have been eerily silent. However, back in January 2019, Rockstar posted a number of new job openings that could hint that development on GTA VI has begun. The company is looking for a number of animation specialists, specifically experts in facial animation, which could see incredible lifelike graphics coming to the next iteration of Grand Theft Auto.
Recent leaks have suggested that GTA 6 won’t be released prior to the next generation consoles. Therefore, we won’t see GTA 6 until November 2020 at the earliest.
Has GTA 6 been delayed?
While November 2020 seems like the earliest we could see GTA 6, rumors suggest we may have to wait a lot longer before we can get our hands on the game. According to numerous reports from stock analysts, Rockstar Games won’t be releasing a sequel to GTA V for at least a few years, and warned traders to not purchase any stock in Take-Two, the parent company of Rockstar Games.
Alex Giamio predicts that we won’t see GTA 6 in stores until 2022, two years after the proposed November launch date, with Rockstar possibly choosing to fill the space with smaller franchises like Bully or Max Payne.
Rockstar have also posted a job listing for an ‘Environment Artist’ in July 2019, hinting at the potential for the title to be earlier in its development cycle than some may have anticipated, and reinforcing the claims that Giamio made back in July 2019.
Where will GTA 6 map be set?
The location for the GTA 6 map has been a point of contention for fans in recent months. London was thought to be an early candidate but recent leaks and rumors have put a dampener on this theory.
GTA 6 map locations vary from the aforementioned London, to a remake of LA and Miami to a new location such as Chicago.
The next most popular theory for a destination is that GTA will finally return to Vice City – the franchise’s take on South Florida – for the first time since 2002.
This rumor comes with a twist, though, as many fans have suggested that there could be an element of travel between Vice City and somewhere in South America. If this is the case, the open world without loading screens that we saw in GTA V might be hard to replicate. The leak also claimed that the game would be set in the 70s or 90s, although some have shot down this rumor as false.
Of course, there’s also a rumor that Rockstar plans to recreate the entirety of the United States. Usually, we’d say this is nothing more than crazy speculation, but the developers of GTA have never been ones to shy away from a challenge!
A review on Glassdoor has strongly hinted that GTA 6 will be made up of previous Grand Theft Auto locations to make up America. With all the information currently available, and the fact that GTA 6 is rumored to only appear on next generation consoles because of memory limitations, GTA 6 being made up of multiple past Grand Theft Auto locations seems a good bet.
What will the GTA 6 story be? Who are the characters?
It seems very unlikely that everyone’s favorite characters from GTA V, Trevor, Franklin and Michael, will feature in the next game. Perhaps we’ll be lucky enough to get some cameo appearances, but their stories appear to be over.
There’s a lot of speculation about whether there will be one main character, or multiple characters like we saw in GTA V, but a rumor from the Daily Star states that Rockstar could do something they have never done before and introduce a leading female character in GTA 6. However, nothing has been confirmed yet.
One supposed leak suggests that the game will follow a low-level drug deal named Ricardo, and his journey to become a druglord in Vice City, but of course, this hasn’t been confirmed and it’s validity is unknown.
A recent rumor, reported by TechnoBezz, suggests that Rockstar might move away from Co-Op campaign and instead switch to Team Campaign missions, which could potentially bring a fresh element of competitive play to the story mode in GTA 6. This would involve online squads competing against each other in some capacity during missions.
Whether or not that will be included, though, remains to be seen.
Have any leaks surfaced about GTA 6?
Information about GTA 6 is thin on the ground, but a Reddit user who claimed to have friends who had worked Kotaku, PC Gamer and Rockstar itself posted a list of supposed leaks about the title, although none of them can be truly verified for accuracy.
Alongside word that it will be set in Vice City and an unnamed version of Rio De Janiero, the leaker suggests that it has been heavily inspired on the Netflix show Narcos, and will feature major weather elements such as hurricanes and floods which have apparently been a major part of the game’s development.
The leak also claims that it will feature the same “Chapters” format as Red Dead Redemption 2, with a more arcade-type feel than their massive cowboy adventure.
A leak from an anonymous Reddit user on August 13, almost seems too detailed to be fabricated, with the Reddit post going on to explain how GTA 6 will be international and that “the game will begin in 1970s Liberty City as you play as a low-level gangster in the Spanish Broker/Harlem district of Liberty.”
According to the source, the campaign will include three acts: the prologue (set in 1978), the main story (set in 1980) and the epilogue (set in the present day). Should this hold substance, this will have huge implications on the way you will interact and communicate in-game.
GTA 6 PS5 exclusive?
Another GTA 6 rumor circulating is that GTA 6 could actually be exclusive to the PS5. Given a PS5 announcement is expected soon, and we have no news of GTA 6, many are assuming the next instalment of GTA will be made for the next generation of consoles.
Rumors had suggested that Sony were interested in a potential takeover of Take-Two Interactive Software, the parent company of Rockstar. If true, some fans feared this could have resulted in GTA 6 being exclusive to the PS5. Nevertheless, a spokesperson for Sony has since stated: “We do not know where the rumor is coming from, but there is no such plan.”
As expected, GTA 6 will almost certainly appear on all major platforms. This makes sense for Take-Two and Rockstar as this will generate the most sales and reach the largest audience.
The leak which is linked earlier in the article states that GTA 6 will be next gen only. Given the expected enormity of the game, this doesn’t come as a surprise.
