Grand Theft Auto 5 is easily the best-selling full-priced game of all time, selling over 185 million copies and ranking among the most successful entertainment releases across all mediums.
GTA 5 is still one of the most popular games on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, despite the fact that it was released ten years ago, and fans are ready for a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series.
In anticipation of Rockstar‘s next open-world adventure, we’ve put together a detailed guide to everything we know about Grand Theft Auto 6, including a possible release date, platforms, settings, gameplay, and more.
Is GTA 6 Release Date Confirmed?
GTA 6’s release date has not been disclosed. However, publisher Take-Two Interactive hinted that GTA 6 could be released in the company’s fiscal year 2025 (April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025).
The implication may be seen in Take-Two’s most recent annual financial report, which highlighted a stratospheric spike* in expected bookings for their fiscal year 2025 – a rise that could be explained by GTA 6.
Rockstar officially stated the next Grand Theft Auto (probably titled GTA VI) was under development in February 2022. Here’s Rockstar’s official announcement:
“With GTA V’s unprecedented longevity, we know many of you have been asking us about a new Grand Theft Auto game.” Our goal with each new project is to exceed what we have previously significantly produced — and we are thrilled to reveal that active development for the next installment in the Grand Theft Auto series has already started. We look forward to providing more information as soon as we are able, so please stay tuned to the Rockstar Newswire for additional information.
“On behalf of our entire team, we thank you all for your support and cannot wait to step into the future with you!”
GTA 6 Platforms
GTA 6 will most likely be released on the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. A PC version is likely, but there’s no guarantee it’ll be ready at launch; Rockstar’s two most recent original titles, GTA 5 and Red Dead 2 were published on PC at least a year after their console debuts.
Although no official platform specifics have been announced, Switch, PS4, and Xbox One versions appear improbable.
GTA 6 Story and Map Rumors
Some of the leaks’ specifications appear to correspond with a few other rumors discussed in Tom Henderson’s July 2021 video. For example, he discusses the hypothesis that GTA 6 is situated in modern-day Vice City rather than the 1980s, as some have speculated.
According to leaked footage of Jason entering a Vice City Metro train, this appears to be correct.
While leaks have revealed the new female playable character, theories about her have been flying for quite some time. GTA Forums users who have been keeping track of some of the voice talents have discovered some hints.
National Monet, for example, previously included a performance as “Tamara” under the codename “Fireball” on her resume.
This profile has since been changed, but as one of their users points out, “Fireball” is the name of a Pitbull song, and he is from Miami – which is telling because the original GTA Vice City was inspired by the drug-infested beaches of the 1980s in Miami Vice.
As it turns out, this isn’t the primary character, as she’s referred to as Lucia in the footage. In terms of the GTA 6 map, some fans predict that if the numbers from the GTA 6 leak are correct, this version of Vice City and the surrounding territories might be double the size of GTA 5.
According to Bloomberg, the crime game would be situated in a fictional version of Miami, which many have interpreted to represent Vice City and the surrounding geographical region.
According to rumors, the campaign’s map will alter over DLC to add new regions or improvements to existing ones dependent on the theme of the DLC.
Not only does the campaign map change, but the new GTA Online mode may take place on a ‘changing map’ that incorporates revisions and improvements with each update, similar to how the Fortnite map evolves with each new season.
GTA 6 Gameplay Leaks
Grand Theft Auto 6 was the topic of what could be the primary video game leak of all time on September 18, 2022. Before publishing 90 GTA 6 videos online, a hacker got access to Rockstar’s network and stole hundreds of assets.
Rockstar Games has already done those type of hinting before with RDR2, across the wall there is another wall that says VINEWOOD with the letters “NEW” Highlighted.
I think they’re simply reusing this for hinting GTA 6 Announcement.Via Reddit. pic.twitter.com/NMbVReDvlY
— GTA 6 NEWS & LEAKS (@GTASNEWSLEAKS) October 18, 2023
Rockstar confirmed the in-development clip, which showed off elements of the game area, gunplay, and NPCs. It also appears to ensure that GTA 6 will have one male and one female protagonist. (While we’re on the subject of NPCs, Rockstar submitted a patent in 2019 for more realistic and immersive NPC drivers.
The system, which could be used in GTA 6, enables AI drivers to “define [their] own specific characteristics for traversing road nodes.”
A British teenager was jailed ten months after the leak for his involvement in a number of hacks, one of which is thought to be the source of the large GTA 6 leak.
GTA 6 Developer
Rockstar North is working on Grand Theft Auto 6, the team that has worked on every mainline GTA game since the franchise’s inception in 1997. Notably, Rockstar began formally collaborating with Cfx, Re, the modding team behind the most popular GTA 5 roleplay servers, in August. It’s unknown whether the team will create comparable material for GTA 6.
In the years following GTA 5, two critical developers from the Grand Theft Auto series left Rockstar: Rockstar games co-founder/head writer Dan Houser and former Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies.
From Grand Theft Auto 2 to Grand Theft Auto 5, Houser wrote the majority of the games, while Benzies has been a series producer since Grand Theft Auto III.
Mike Unsworth, Rockstar’s VP of writing, has also departed the firm; however, given the date of his resignation (August 2023), his work on GTA 6 may have been completed.