Everything we know about ‘Grand Theft Auto 6’ right now

Rockstar Games Inc is preparing to reveal plans for its next entry in the seminal Grand Theft Auto franchise as soon as this week, with a trailer to come in December.

As we await further details on GTA VI, here’s a look back at its pedigree and why its release is among the most hotly anticipated events on the games calendar.

What’s the big deal about GTA VI?

Grand Theft Auto VI will be the next major release in a series of action video games initiated in 1997, where the player takes on the role of an antihero avoiding police and driving and shooting across a simulacrum of a real-world city. It was one of the earliest and best attempts at creating what’s become known as an open-world game, where players can choose their own path and missions through the game.

Over the years, GTA games have grown into a wider cultural phenomenon reaching beyond gaming, as its distinctive style earned loyal players and fans from across the entertainment industry. The series has sold more than 405 million copies, Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive Software Inc said in August.

What do we know about GTA VI’s content?

Previous entries in the series have involved running around recognisable recreations of cities like Miami, Los Angeles and New York. Back in 2022, people familiar with Rockstar’s plans said early designs for the game had called for the inclusion of territories based on large swathes of North and South America. But the company curtailed those ambitions and cut the main map down to a fictionalised version of Miami and its surrounding areas. The game will feature two protagonists, a man and a woman.

A number of clues to the new game were gleaned from an extensive leak of videos and screenshots posted to the web by a hacker in September 2022. People familiar with the game’s development said the cache showed pre-release footage of the game and Rockstar moved quickly to scrub the images from the Internet. Gaming site Games Radar reported that the leak pointed to a modern-day Vice City setting (from the game bearing the same name, based on Miami), fresh gameplay mechanics and improved AI.

When will GTA VI be released?

In 2022, industry analysts expected GTA VI would be out sometime in Take-Two’s 2024 fiscal year, which runs from April 2023 through March 2024, but even then developers were sceptical. Video games are notorious for release delays enforced by hitches in development, as highlighted by the ambitious Cyberpunk 2077’s tortured path to release.

As of now, we have no idea. The leaked gameplay footage last year was rough and riddled with bugs, with Rockstar promising to introduce the game to players properly “when it is ready”. Rockstar doesn’t appear in desperate need to rush out the game: its GTA Online service hosted more users in June this year than in any other June outside of the pandemic, Take-Two said in August.

How valuable is GTA VI to Rockstar?

GTA VI’s predecessor, 2013’s Grand Theft Auto V, was the fastest entertainment release in history to reach US$1bil (RM4.67bil) in retail sales and the best-selling game in the US over the past decade, according to Take-Two. Rockstar has built a growing GTA Online multiplayer platform and community, which it is increasingly monetising with a paid GTA+ subscription offering, launched in March 2022.

The release of GTA VI is expected to drive similar, if not larger, retail sales at its outset and to catalyse growth in revenue from online services and in-game content.

How different can we expect GTA VI to be from its predecessors?

The franchise’s first two entries featured a distinctive top-down view before it transitioned to 3D graphics with Grand Theft Auto III. In subsequent iterations, Rockstar has invested in developing a more cinematic style, bringing in the voices of celebrities and ramping up the filmlike qualities of its narratives.

With competition in this genre of Hollywood-like games rising significantly over the past decade – as highlighted by Sony Group Corp’s The Last Of Us Part II – players will expect Rockstar and Take-Two to elevate their own standards and those for the industry.

Budgets for top-tier titles like GTA and TLOU 2 now habitually stray into nine figures, and given the long-term earning potential indicated by GTA V, Rockstar is likely to invest everything it can in ensuring GTA VI is a similar success. – Bloomberg