The Unrealistic Expectations Players Have From GTA 6 Are Just Begging To Be Disappointed

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It’s been a decade now, and the expectations for GTA 6 have reached insurmountable heights.
GTA 6 is a game that will surely be a superb one, but not some ultra-realistic and unreal life simulator.
Unrealistic expectations always lead to disappointments, just look at Cyberpunk 2077 and Starfield.

So, have you heard of this brilliant video game series called Grand Theft Auto from Rockstar? You haven’t? No matter, let me walk you through it a little. You roam around in an impressively realistic open world, break the law as you see fit, steal cars, shoot stuff, kill annoying NPCs, and just go around doing any ridiculous thing you want. Sounds fun, right?

Oh, and you’re in luck. A new entry in the franchise is about to happen called GTA 6, and I’m super pumped up about it. And since you’re new to this, I’m sure you’ll have no unrealistic expectations exaggerated beyond belief for it, making it out to be something out of this world. Like me, you’ll get to enjoy it for what it would be.

Yeah, right. If only it were that easy.

Some Of The Expectations For GTA 6 Are Beyond Insane

When it comes to video games, there’s nothing, and I mean nothing, as popular and well-known as the GTA series. It’s a worldwide sensation that gives countless people unforgettable memories and just unabated fun. Thus, the mere existence of GTA 6 was a nuclear explosion. People went crazy with the theory-crafting and expectations, and it has only since increased after the trailer.

pic.twitter.com/BguwiJokQt

— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) December 1, 2023

That is supposed to be a good thing, right? No, I don’t think so. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a massive GTA fan and the sixth game has me excited beyond belief, but even I’m a firm believer that things are going too much out of hand. If you’re a rational and realistic person like me, go ahead and see for yourself what people expect of the game, and tell me it’s something you can logically hope for.

From extremely photorealistic visuals unlike you’ve seen in any game in existence and an immense map with every corner filled with 20 interesting things for you to do, all unique and fresh, to basically an insanely detailed life simulator where you have dynamic weather physics for 24/7 real-time effects, and NPCs you can follow and see each of the one million people living a unique everyday life.

Concept map of GTA 5 vs. GTA 6. Expect bigger
byu/retroanduwu24 inGTA

This is what people think GTA 6 is going to be, anything less would be unacceptable.

Disappointment With GTA 6 Is Almost Inevitable, You Can’t Please Everyone

Now do you see the problem? I’m not saying GTA 6 is going to be a bad game. No, not at all, the opposite actually. Considering Rockstar’s track record, I have nothing but high hopes for it. But come on, isn’t some of what people are saying a little too high of a hope? Something nigh-impossible perhaps?

https://www.reddit.com/r/GTA6/comments/1bdygva/gta_5_original_trailer_too_had_animations_and/

We need to accept the fact that there are a lot of factors involved in the development and release of a AAA game, especially one as monstrous as GTA 6. The trailer was no doubt great and I was genuinely fascinated by the dual protagonist thing among other “GTA being GTA” moments, but it’s not going to be something out of the world, that’s for sure.

The trailer was an in-engine showcase, true, but that doesn’t mean the entire game is going to be like that word to word. There are bound to be some differences, many features people have overhyped to hell at this point are most likely not going to be there.

I CALLING IT NOW! NPC’S WILL FILM YOU COMMITING CRIMES AND YOU’LL BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR CRIMES IN A TRENDING PAGE OF SORTS
byu/Greyfox31098 inGTA6

Besides, we’ve seen some of the recent releases. Performance issues and bugs are sometimes unavoidable. If GTA 6 is going to be this impressive, it’s bound to have some performance limitations I’m sure. Does that make it a bad game? No. It makes it a real game.

Though it’s Rockstar and they’ve done some impossible feats before like running GTA 5 on a PS3/X360 and RDR2 on a PS4/XONE, so I’m sure GTA 6 will be a much better release than some other examples. But that doesn’t change the fact that it won’t please everyone and their absurd demands. People are practically setting themselves up for disappointment.

GTA 5 on a PS3 is nothing short of a miracle

No One Wants Another Cyberpunk 2077, But Are Creating Similar Circumstances

Let me give you a very real example; another victim of unreal expectations. Remember Cyberpunk 2077’s release? When CD Projekt Red announced a new game, people went crazy, primarily because it was from the same devs as The Witcher 3, one of the most universally acclaimed games of all time. Based on that, gamers thought since they can do Witcher 3, the next game is going to be 100 times better.

The witcher 3 is the best game to ever exist so far, change my mind
byu/saymerkayali inWitcher3

Although I admit there were some genuine problems Cyberpunk released with, it was nowhere near as bad as the ensuing fallout and hatred after its release. As it was not an out-of-this-world supernatural being people made it out to be, they went out of control. A similar thing happened with Starfield, not too long ago.

Extreme expectations claimed Starfield and CP 2077, among other problems

I’m happy from the bottom of my heart that Cyberpunk 2077 has now reclaimed the honor it deserved with all the dedicated updates devs put in it. I firmly believe it never deserved so much hate, people took out their frustration on it when the expectedly unreal image fell apart.

GTA 6 Will Be Great, No Doubt, But Realistically So

In a nutshell, my purpose in holding this discussion was to highlight the importance of realistic expectations. It won’t be the game’s fault if it is not the overhyped monstrosity people selfishly create in their minds. There’s no doubt in my mind that GTA 6 will be an exemplary game, one that is surely to elevate Rockstar’s renown even more, but it’ll still be within realistic limits.

The trailer was certainly incredible, but the expectations are just too wild

We need to accept that it can have slightly less than lifelike visuals, some performance hiccups here and there, automated NPCs that are not real-life people in disguise, and little gaps in open-world content. As long as it’s a solid overall game filled with dedication and fascinating details, that’s all that matters.