Since the release of GTA V in 2013, fans have been desperately waiting to get their hands on GTA 6. Although Rockstar had remained silent for what seemed like an entire decade, they have shunned some light on their upcoming game, and there have been various leaks as well. Let’s dive into GTA 6 and everything we know so far.
Will There Be a GTA 6?
Getting the most obvious question out of the way: will there be a GTA 6? The answer is yes. On February 4th, 2022, Rockstar surprised fans with a shocking announcement through Twitter and their blog post. Although we were not given anything new, Rockstar confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 6 was under “active development.”
They stated in their blog and on Twitter that with each iteration in the series, their aim is to always create something better than before. Considering the quality of games that we’ve got from Rockstars in the past few years, they surely have been nailing this philosophy of constant improvement.
Around the same time, the CEO of Take-Two made some statements as well. The CEO said that the labels have full authority over deciding the announcement of upcoming projects. He ended his statement by providing hope for more news to come. But his statement clearly showed that if we are to get more information for GTA 6, it would be either through leaks or directly from Rockstar themselves.
GTA 6 Release Date
We’ve had some interesting leaks regarding the GTA 6 release date, here’s everything about it and some things to consider.
Possibilities of Delay
Release dates of big AAA titles can be quite tricky. There are often delays, last-minute changes, and a lot more that keep them from being released. Even Rockstar’s previous AAA game, Red Dead Redemption 2, faced delays before finally being released. Therefore, even if there are any leaks of releases or if Rockstar officially announces a date, you should be open to the thought that it can easily get delayed.
Announcement
The first-ever news that we had of GTA 6’s development was back in April 2020, when a Kotaku Report mentioned that the new entry in the Grand Theft Auto Series was under development. The report said that the size of the game would be pretty moderate.
But according to Rockstar’s standards, even a moderately sized release is still a large game. But the report further elaborated and said that Rockstar would plan on increasing the size of the game through regular updates. This is a strategy that they’re applying in hopes of reducing stress on the developers and getting the game out faster.
Take-Two’s Marketing Budget Gives the Best Hint
Although we have not given any direct hints as to when the game will be released, fans have been able to use their Sherlock skills to come up with some good predictions. Take-Two Interactive’s marketing budget. According to a report by VentureBeat, Take-Two is expected to spend $89 million on marketing between April 2023 and the end of March 2024.
This has gotten many analysts, especially industry analyst Jeff Cohen, to predict that the huge rise in the budget could be due to the release of GTA 6. He believes that around this time, April 2023 to the end of March 2024 is the general time period when GTA 6 may get released. And all the marketing budget is going to go toward promoting the game.
Additionally, Cohen pointed out that previous marketing budgets have been able to make similar predictions. Release dates of games like Red Dead Redemption 2 were also predicted using the marketing budget.
If we assume that the prediction is correct, then we can mostly expect GTA 6 to be released sometime after April 2023 and closer to March 2024.
News from a leaker
There has also been news from a leaker, Tom Henderson. He has been known to give accurate leaks on Battlefield and Call of Duty. He posted a video in which he shared some leaks about the game.
His leaks about the GTA 6 release date also align with the 2024 budget spike that we discussed. According to Henderson, the reason that GTA 6 cannot be released earlier than 2024 is that the company has been focusing on “employee well-being.” What this means is that Rockstar does not want to make their employees work overtime or always be on a time crunch.
Due to the employee well-being mentality, it seems as if Rockstar does not want to release trailers or promise any dates until it can be confident with its claims. Meaning, that they’re trying to avoid delays as much as possible without having to exhaust their developers.
And one other reason for such a delay is the popularity of GTA 5. The majority of GTA games tend to lose popularity in the same time period that GTA 5 has been around. But even after almost a decade, GTA 5 has remained relevant due to the online mode. Rockstar does not want to ruin that by releasing yet another game that will completely overshadow the previous one.
GTA 6 Trailer
As of yet, Rockstar has not given any information on a potential trailer, nor have there been any major leaks regarding the matter. This is odd as with GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2; an announcement usually followed a trailer.
But this time around, their announcement did not entail any form of trailer or screenshots. It was a simple blog post and a tweet to announce the active development of the game.
There were speculations that on 16th May, there would be some form of a trailer in the Take-two and Rockstar live stream. Unfortunately, there was no news on GTA 6 in the stream. When people tried asking the hosts GTA 6-related questions, they tried playing them off or completely ignoring the questions.
Therefore, we’ll have to wait a while before getting any confirmed news on the GTA 6 trailer.
GTA 6 Location: Where will GTA 6 be set
As per the trend with all GTA 6 news, we haven’t got anything official from Rockstar as to where the game will be set. But there have been many rumors and leaks that have suggested the possible locations for GTA 6.
There were also some details by Take-Two which you can read about here: GTA 6 Map Details Supposedly Revealed By Take-Two Interactive. Some have even suggested that it might be massive enough to cover entire America; let’s have a look.
Project Americas
One of the biggest leaks that have given fans hope is the video from The Know. The channel claimed that GTA 6 has been under development under the name Project Americas. The code name is directly related to the location of the game, which will supposedly have you flying between the US and South America throughout the game. It is expected that the majority of the time will be spent in the US, though.
This ties in nicely with another leak that suggested that GTA 6 would be set in Vice City, which as players might recall from GTA Vice City, is the Rockstar version of Miami. The leak suggested that there would be a focus on a Narcos-type story where the players would be involved in running a drug business.
The post revealed something interesting that perhaps none of the previous GTA games have explored in great depth. And that is the setting being placed in multiple time periods. From the 1970s to the 1980s, the game will take place in locations such as Vice City and Liberty City.
GTA 6 Protagonist
According to the deleted Reddit post, the game will have only one playable protagonist named Ricardo, who will be a rising drug lord, taking inspiration from the Netflix series, Narcos. The story will be told in multiple chapters, with the visuals changing drastically between them as the game progresses. This lines up well with the game taking place in multiple decades.
However, all of this information should be taken with a grain of salt as the post was deleted and the OP said the game is in the pre-alpha stage. This means that there might’ve been various changes that would’ve affected the final product significantly.
Leaked Images
There have been some leaked images of the GTA 6 map; the most solid one so far was posted on 4chan. The map does slightly line up with the Project Americas philosophy.
Many players speculated that even the Red Dead Redemption 2 map was leaked years before release, so the possibility of this map being real is quite high. Through the map image and the real-world map, few speculators predict that the map might include locations like Rio De Janeiro, the Everglades, or Colombia.
However, many actual map designers said that this could likely not be a real map due to the way it has been designed. If you look closely, there is a beach at every border of the map, which does not seem like something that Rockstar might go for with their map designs.
Leaked Map Video
There was a video circulating around that appeared to be someone recording the GTA 6 map. The video was a shaky recording of a screen where the player was going through activities on the map, which included bowling.
Someone posted the video on Twitter, asking Tom Henderson whether he thinks the video is legit. He responded by saying, “wouldn’t expect any leaks like this for a couple of years.”
However, the map was actually proven as a fake, as revealed by the mastermind behind it, litdunker4. He uploaded a video where he showed the breakdown of how he made the map while also adding some joker memes in between to make a mockery of those who fell for it.
West Island
In October 2020, a user posted an image on the GTA forums of a supposed map leak. It was the only post from that user, and it showed two images of a monitor screen with the same map, one blurry and the other clearer.
The map shows an island named “Vestawa Island.” Although Vestawa does not have an exact translation from any other language, the VI for Vestawa Island could suggest VI as in the roman 6 for GTA 6. Regardless, many people considered it a fake due to the quality of the map.
A Modern Setting
However, Tom Henderson said that although Vice City being included is a possibility, the map might not be as big as the rumors have claimed.
In fact, he went against the entire 1970s or 1980s concept and said that the game would have a modern setting instead. His logical argument was that it is more aligned with how GTA Online has been going and that Rockstar will have an easier time incorporating it into the next online mode. Rockstar loves producing DLCs and updates for the online mode, so it seems unlikely that they won’t be doing the same for the next GTA.
Rockstar QA Tester
There was another rumor that was backed up by a Rockstar Games QA Tester on Glassdoor. The initial Rumour was posted on Pastebin, which has now been removed. It claimed that GTA 6 would take players on a journey between the various big cities such as Liberty City, Vice City, and perhaps some other areas as well. You would supposedly start off as a small drug dealer who would join an infamous gang and then become part of something bigger.
The poster said that the cities would be connected through large highways, with Blaine County-like countryside between them.
As for the QA tester, their post was removed, but they left a cryptic message that spelled out GTA6LSVCLC. It could perhaps translate to GTA 6 Los Santos, Vice City, and Liberty City. RealityDesign made a concept art of what the map would look like if all these locations were combined.
The game was also supposedly tested out by a streamer which you can read about here: GTA 6 Online Playtested by Famous Twitch Streamer
UFO Screenshot from GTA Trilogy
There was a painting-like image in the GTA Trilogy version of San Andreas that not only might give a hint to the GTA 6 location but also might be the first screenshot of the game.
There was an image circulating around in the GTA Forums that can be found on the wall of the Sand Andreas’ UFO-themed Lil’ Probe’Inn. Considering the history Rockstar has with adding UFOs in its games, the image can be a perfect hidden easter egg for GTA 6.
Instagram-Related Vice City rumor
A lot of rumors have heavily emphasized GTA 6’s location being in Vice City, and there was more hype around it after a Rockstar employee made a post on Instagram.
A post by soundtrack manager and music supervisor, Tony Mesones, showed Miami’s South Beach with the caption “who said it could be cold???”.
Although many thought that maybe the fans were looking too into it because it could just be a vacation picture. However, considering Tony has worked with Rockstar for over a decade (including GTA V and RDR2), and he also tagged Rockstar Games in the post, it could be a work-related trip instead.
However, people are right to assume that it isn’t actually any solid proof and it could just be a general vacation picture.
Possibility of London
There were also some rumors that suggested that the next GTA 6 location could be in London. These rumors stemmed from an interview of Don Houser, co-founder of Rockstar Games, with the Polygon. He stated, in 2013, “At the moment, it feels like GTA’s DNA is contemporary-ish, American-ish, English-speaking-ish, because that’s what it has been… But that doesn’t necessarily limit it to those, that’s just what we’ve done so far.”
This lead many to speculate the next set could be in London. But these were all lead to a dead-end when later that month, Houser denied the possibility of such a setting.
Possibility of a Florida setting
There was a letter floating around that asked a Florida store for permission for inspection by Rockstar Games. The letter was proven to be real by a well-known leaker, @Yan2295.
The purpose of the inspection was most likely to use it for inspiration in the upcoming game. However, there is more to the story.
In October 2019, a post was made on the GTA 6 subreddit claiming that a scout representing Rockstar Games wanted to photograph their local business.
Many people were skeptical of this until a few days later the original poster took a picture of documentation (and made another post on Reddit) that the scout provided their local business, asking to take images of the interiors of the local business in South Florida. They were apparently looking for interesting locations, and the letter was signed by the location scout manager.
Pictures of the contract for those who didn’t believe me.. GTA 6 in Vice city confirmed !! from GTA6
Much of the details were blurred out but at the bottom, it stated Leah’s IMDb. Fans did a little digging and found a podcast titled “Film Florida Podcast.”
In the Podcast, Leah gets interviewed about their latest work in Florida. Leah goes on to say, “As you are aware we’ve had changes of types of productions that are coming to our state. So, I’ve also been very fortunate to get a large client that has hired me to basically arrange flight tours and visits. It’s a general media company and I’ve signed an NDA so I can’t disclose who it is, but they’ve been exploring various cities in our state and other states in the southeast and I’ve been planning and arranging those visits for their staff.”
Fans believe that the leak is real and that this might’ve been one of those accidental fan leaks.
Time Travel and Future Settings
Back in 2016, a Christian Today suggested that the game would have a futuristic setting, perhaps something like Cyberpunk. It would have time travel and teleportation to get you into other locations instantly. However, such a concept seems slightly unlikely, especially considering the theme that the various GTA games have had.
Hiring Artists
A post on Reddit discussed that Rockstar had jobs opened related to creating realistic 3D art. The post suggested that perhaps Rockstar is trying to create a 3D map of some sort and that they must’ve already finalized the actual setting of the game and its map.
However, other users in the comments tried to debunk this theory by stating that Rockstar tends to have job openings regardless of what they’re working on. They simply refresh the applications so that more people can apply. This allows them to never be short on talent.
That’s everything we know about GTA 6’s map and location. So far, the leaks have heavily implied that Vice City will be involved. But as Rockstar always aims to make their games bigger and better, the possibility of multiple big cities is quite realistic. We’ll have to wait around to see what they come up with.
GTA 6 Story Leak?
There was a post on Reddit in 2020 by someone claiming to be part of an independent marketing company. They said that they had been working for Rockstar for the last 18 months and had extensive knowledge of the story and the scripts.
The leaker said that they had no way of proving the leak without jeopardizing themselves or their employers. The post is quite long so this section will primarily discuss that leak.
The leak states that there will be three playable characters: Ricardo, Kacey, and Rose. The story will pace out slowly, and each character will get unlocked one by one just like in GTA V.
Ricardo
According to the leaker, you will start off with Ricardo and play as him throughout the first act. He is a low-level Cuban drug smuggler based in Vice City. He will engage in petty smuggling for a large Hispanic organization. Eventually, he kills a police captain and the husband of the third protagonist, Rose. This prompts Ricardo to be outlawed from his organization with a price on his head, forcing him to go into hiding. This will also make the character unplayable for that time period.
Kacey
The second character is Kacey, a petty criminal based in Carcer City. He is the youngest protagonist in the GTA Series, in his early 20s. The second act will be in Carcer City and Liberty State, working with gangs and low-level criminals, and even Jacob from GTA IV will make an appearance. After creating a rival gang, he takes down another gang to become the king of Broker. But eventually, he gets caught and thrown into prison as well.
The third act is a flashback before the events of the start of the game. It takes place in Vice City and is a gunfight where you can switch between Ricardo and Kacey as Ricardo hijacks a prison bus in which Kacey is in.
Supposedly Kacey and Ricardo eventually meet again and become a duo after having some hostile tension between them at the start.
Pink
At this point, the leaker had not mentioned Rose yet, but afterward, they said that Rose would be playable after some story events. Apparently, Rose works at a police station but is actually having a secret love affair with Ricardo. She helps Ricardo and Kacey plan heists and evades the law. This is especially interesting considering she is also leading an investigation to take them down.
Rose’s gameplay and missions are mostly revolved around catching bad guys and even have interesting missions like chasing serial killers in Vice City.
Other GTA 6 Leaks
It may seem like we’ve discussed a lot regarding everything you need to know about GTA 6, but there are a whole lot more rumors and news that we can still dive into. This section will discuss the various other leaks regarding aspects like the game engine, potential screenshots, and much more.
Files in RDR2
Rockstar tends to have the same engine, Rage, throughout their various games. Because of this, sometimes files, scripts, or models from other projects can be found in other games by accident.
In December 2019, a user posted on the GTA Forums claiming that they were looking through the RDR2 files when they came across a text in some files called MISC AMERICAS SCRIPT STATS. But in a later patch was changed to just MISC SCRIPT STATS.
This might not mean anything initially. But, if you link this with the leak about “Project Americas” which discussed possibilities of the 70s and 80s setting, along with other details, then this script name starts to become interesting.
It could’ve indeed been a reference to Project Americas, thus Rockstar patching out the word Americas.
There were also scripts of modern guns that are not in GTA V and also a script for skydiving and parachuting.
Things speeding up
The development of GTA 6 has been kept so secretive that we have no idea how much has been developed and how much more is left. But, French Journalist Chris Klippel claimed that “an important step in the development of GTA 6 has been reached.”
He continued and said that the development of the game should speed up, and it is possible that we would get an official announcement at the end of the year. However, he also believes that the game won’t be arriving before the end of 2024.
Although his claims about the release of the game match with what we’ve heard so far, we don’t really know what the important milestone is that Rockstar has reached. Perhaps it could be that they’ve made the map in its entirety as they were looking for someone to create a 3D map, according to the Reddit claim. Still, we don’t know anything for sure.
RAGE9 Game Engine
Rockstar is known for having games with great physics and graphics. And they have their amazing game engines to thank for that.
According to a Tweet by Chris Klippel, the engine that is being used for GTA 6 is “ahead of its time.”
Visiblement, la nouvelle version du moteur graphique de #RockstarGames (RAGE9) qui sera utilisée pour #GTA6 risque d'être assez incroyable. J'ai pu avoir des retours très positifs, on devrait vraiment ne pas être déçu sur ce point. On parle d'un moteur en avance sur son temps. pic.twitter.com/v2DVSS4lMJ
— Chris’ Klippel (@Chris_Klippel) April 22, 2022
In the Tweet, he claimed that the engine, Rage9, is likely going to be incredible, and he got positive feedback on it. The graphics engine is something that won’t disappoint the fans, and we can have high expectations of something outstanding.
Considering how ahead GTA V’s graphics were when it was released, even being able to compete with some modern games after being upgraded to the next-gen consoles, we can assume RAGE9 will deliver something outstanding.
When Klippel was asked how good the RAGE6 engine would be compared to the Unreal Engine, he said that the goal is to obviously outperform the UE and that Rockstar is more than capable of achieving that.
You can read more about the engine here: Game Engine For GTA 6 Will Supposedly Outperform Unreal Engine
Take-Two CEO says that you’ve got to keep things fresh
Take-Two’s CEO, Strauss Zelnick, talked about the GTA 6 announcement in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. He said, referring to how GTA V has been dragged out throughout the various generations and that things need to become fresh.
To quote him exactly, he said: “You always have to be willing to be fresh. You always have to be willing to bring consumers what they want. The minute you try to protect the past, you become irrelevant.”
He continued this by saying that he is thrilled that Rockstar is finally working on another iteration of the GTA series. He said that he has no doubt that the game would be great and would continue to outperform all previous titles.
Only game this gen: GTA 6 on old consoles?
Many have wondered whether GTA 6 will be on the old consoles or if it’ll release purely for the current/future gens. The simple and obvious answer to this is that, no, it most likely will not come for the previous generations.
Rockstar is hoping to improve and create a game that surpasses all previous titles. They already had Red Dead Redemption 2 for the PS4 and Xbox One. Limiting themselves to the previous hardware would not make much sense.
Furthermore, a well-known leaker, AccNGT, said that Rockstar is putting everything into GTA 6 to make it perfect. When asked how many games should we expect from Rockstar in the current-gen consoles (PS5 and Xbox series X), it was said that only GTA 6 would be released. That does make sense, as Rockstar tends to focus more on quality rather than quantity. And if they’re released GTA 6 with an online mode, they most likely will focus on expanding that rather than creating multiple games.
AccNGT predicts development problems
Back in December 2021, AccNGT tweeted out:
About #GTAVI #GTA6- Some people don’t realize how chaotic the development is.- I really think there will be a disappointment for many people in some aspects (of course not the graphic side).- If the game is announced this year / early 2022, we can really be worried.
AccNGT is a prominent leaker that even leaked details about “Star Wars Eclipse” and his saying that there are development problems could truly mean that Rockstar was having trouble at the time. He did say that if the game gets announced in early 2022 then we should be worried, and Rockstar did exactly that. They announced the “active development” of the game.
Could this mean that we should be expecting many delays or perhaps the story of the game may suffer? It’s all up in the air and up for speculation.
Less edgy GTA?
The GTA franchise is known for having edgy aspects and funny moments. But in an interview with Killaz (Youtuber), the co-founder of Rockstar, Jamie King, said that perhaps the next GTA 6, or even any future Rockstar game, might not be as edgy or funny as previous titles.
He said that he would not be surprised if the tone started changing. He went on to say: “And if it’s maybe not quite as edgy or quite as funny. I just think maybe there’s more opportunity for them to do something cheesy cause they never do. Maybe not. There’s a beautiful machine there that you’d have to try real hard to f**k up.
I just look at the success of GTA 5 and GTA Online and Red Dead Redemption 2, and I think that they’re just going to be fine, period. But I think culturally, internally, both up at Rockstar North and at Rockstar New York, missing Leslie Benzies and Dan Houser, yeah, there’s a difference, for sure.”
VFX Job Listings
Usually, whenever there are job listing leaks and such, they’re from random websites. But there was a job listing on the official Rockstar site looking for next-gen VFX. From their description, it sounds like they’re really stepping it up for the next game.
The listing was looking for an artist to be placed at Rockstar, New England. They were looking for someone to “help bring extra life to the environment, characters, weapons, vehicles and more.” Apparently, they would be required to use ambient effects for things like insects around the player and rain dripping off buildings up to large-scale destruction events like skyscrapers crashing on the ground.
The list continued and said, “our technology is used to tie the world together” and “weapons create bullet impacts, vehicles kick up dirt and smoke and leave debris when they crash, objects get dirty when they fall in the mud.”
Multiple playable characters: GTA 6 Female Protagonist?
Tom Henderson has been at the front of most of the GTA 6 leaks. He is also well-known for his most accurate leaks on Battlefield and Call of Duty. He posted a video on Youtube discussing various GTA leaks.
Some of these leaks were regarding the playable characters in GTA 6. He said that the next game would follow a similar approach to GTA V, where there will be multiple playable characters.
And amongst those characters will be a female protagonist as well. This b will be known to be the “bright one” and will have a focus on tech and hacking.
GTA V had a lot of heists and characters that focused on hacking to get our players through security. Perhaps GTA 6 will take that concept even further. It definitely would be interesting to use hacking and tech in the open world as well.
GTA Online Map
In the same video where Tom Henderson talked about the possibility of a female protagonist and multiple playable characters, he discussed the map of GTA Online and GTA 6 DLCs.
He said that each time a GTA 6 DLC will be released, the map of GTA Online will change as well. He gave the Fortnite map as an example. Each season the Fortnite map evolves and has either new buildings, destroyed buildings, or a total revamp of the entire map. He said that we can expect something similar in GTA Online once GTA 6 gets released.
However, Henderson did say that he is not known for GTA leaks, and his accuracy may not be as spot on as with his COD or Battlefield leaks. So, we should probably take everything with a grain of salt.
Cryptocurrency in GTA 6
There was another leak by Tom Henderson on Twitter.
He stated that asides from just the regular in-game currency rewards after completing missions, there would be another form of reward. And that form would be Cryptocurrencies.
He said that, just like in GTA V, there will be a stock market “with the addition of a broken for different cryptocurrencies.”
Of course, the currencies might not be named after real-life currencies such as Bitcoin, but they’d still reflect some of the real currencies.
And according to Tom, GTA will focus more on the darker side of crypto as you will be rewarded crypto from high-profile characters looking to move high amounts of “untraceable cash and fast.”
In a reply thread, Tom said “I’m not joking. This is what I heard from someone that I trust.”
Florida and Cuba Rumor
There was a rumor that spread around like wildfire, which stated that GTA 6 could be set in Florida and Cuba. This was done through a post on The Medium by Tim McDowell. He claimed to have details about GTA 6 alongside screenshots that were found on 4Chan. The images apparently leaked details about GTA 6.
The claims that Tim made were in accordance with everything that Tom Henderson had mentioned thus far. But, a fan, AdrophInTheOcean, debunked everything and proved that the images were photoshopped. The entire article was just a joke post, and Tim eventually changed the post to just a meme.
The Single-play experience remains
With the success of GTA Online, many fans worry that perhaps Rockstar may not have their full attention on creating engaging single-player stories.
However, this was disproven by the Take-Two CEO, Strauss Zelnick in an earnings call (Q3 2021). Zelnick said “The folks at Rockstar Games intended to create a powerful single-player experience a story-driven experience. And Rockstar has always been known for great stories and great single-player experiences and then developed in addition, a massive multiplayer opportunity over the past years.”
He continued on to say that Rockstar is a company that is capable of producing both online and single-player games, as proven by the success of GTA V and GTA Online.
In fact, a similar statement was made by Rockstar’s Tarek Hamad and Scott Butchard in a 2020 GQ interview. They were asked if Rockstar would still tell single-player stories even as GTA Online continues to run. Hamad said absolutely, and Butchard said that it could even become part of the online experience. He said that they are hoping to inject more of the single-player element into the online mode.
GTA in VR?
Wouldn’t it be cool to walk around the world of GTA in VR? Well, according to a post on LinkedIn, Video Games Deluxe is “gearing up for a new project” after having worked on LA Noire VR.
Video Games Deluxe have supposedly worked with Rockstar for around 7 years, and fans have speculated that they might be working on another AAA open-world project for Rockstar. However, the chances of that being GTA 6, at least at the beginning, might be slim.
The majority of the time, such upgrades have been given to previous titles, such as GTA V getting first-person mode, and now LA Noire getting VR. Therefore, it is likely that if Video Games Deluxe is working on a VR mode for one of Rockstar’s games, it could be for GTA V.
However, if that does happen, it would leave a door open for GTA 6 to get a VR version as well.
Smarter NPCS
Rockstar’s Publisher, Take-Two has filed for a new patent that would supposedly improve the AI for NPCs.
The patent is said to trademark a “system and method for virtual navigation in a gaming environment.” It was filed by Take-Two in October 2020.
The tech in the patent is hoping to create a realistic virtual world that is not limited by hardware or software limitations. Take-Two’s view is that the conventional system has limited resources for automating NPCs. But with their new tech, they will be working on how NPCs move around and interact with the environment.
There also seems to be a heavy focus on driving NPCs and perhaps having them act more dynamically. Meaning if there are speed limits, crashes, streetlights, moving objects, and all the various shenanigans that happen in GTA, the NPCs would better react to them.
The patent also had a focus on driving skills, such as a focus on top speed, braking times, and a general realistic feel to driving.
However, all of this should be taken with a grain of salt as the patent was not directly filed by Rockstar but by the parent company, Take-Two. This means that it can be for any game that the publisher oversees, not just Rockstar’s GTA 6.
But we do have hope as David Hynd and Simon Parr are behind the tech, and they work with Rockstar in the technology and AI department.
Claimed Domains
According to a Reddit user, Take-Two has renewed a couple of domain names that are linked to GTA 6 and Vice City.
In August 2020, the post was made, and it said that Rockstar (or Take-Two) has renewed the domain names Gtavicecityonline and GtaVI.
Could this perhaps be a hint to the next GTA 6 location? Possibly. However, it is worth noting that companies sometimes claim domains that often resemble their products. This is done so to either redirect to their main page or so that others cannot use them (without them actually using themselves).
Dan Houser Leaves
Dan Houser was supposedly on an extended leave period since the spring of 2019. But, as per the announcement of Take-Two, he officially left Rockstar Games on March 11, 2020, leaving his brother Sam Houser behind as the president.
Houser was the head writer, producer, and voice actor at Rockstar. Whether he was involved with GTA 6 or not was unclear by the announcement. However, the next leak that is about to be discussed might shed some light on that.
The Story
Fans have been worried about the story of GTA 6 ever since Rockstar’s head writer, Dan Houser left the scene.
However, according to a self-claimed insider, the story of GTA 6 was completed even before the writer left. In February 2020, Chri’Liberty93 from Rockstar Mag made a post claiming that the next GTA will still have the “soul” of a Rockstar game.
This has led fans to believe that GTA 6 may be closer than we think. However, Chris pointed out that might not be the case. Apparently, even RDR2’s story was completed all the way back in 2012. However, before launch, in late 2017 and early 2018, many little details were added or changed.
Has GTA Online hindered GTA 6?
GTA V’s Online mode has been around for as long as GTA V has been. Since its release, the Online mode has thrived on the old-gen consoles, the current-gen, and even the next-gen (PS5/Xbox series x). With regular updates and the massive success of the Online mode, fans wondered if its success is what has kept Rockstar from making GTA 6 all this time.
According to GamesIndustry.biz, in May 2020, the CEO of Take-Two, Straus Zelnick, was in an interview at the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference. Over there, he was asked whether Take-Two would think twice before launching a new game despite the online mode still performing well.
Zelnick said, “Any time you look at a business and you take the position, ‘This is great, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. I’m just going to stick with it and I’m not going to worry about innovating because everyone loves what we have,’ you are just moments away from being destroyed by your competitors.”
He then said, “I am not remotely worried about being in a position that we have a great line of live services and a new release and that there’s somehow maybe some internal competition. That to me is the definition of a high-class problem.”
His comments go to show that despite GTA Online’s massive popularity and success, Rockstar most likely didn’t stop thinking about GTA 6. And now that we know that there is “active development,” we don’t have to worry about GTA Online getting in the way of progress.
CJ’s Voice Actor
In case you had hopes of CJ returning to GTA 6 in any way, we have bad news for you. The voice actor for GTA San Andreas voice actor, Chris Bellard, posted on his Instagram saying he’s not involved in GTA 6 at all.
Could GTA 6 be the last GTA game?
This is more so speculation by Tom Henderson rather than anything else. But considering that we’re covering everything you need to know about GTA 6, it is worth mentioning his thoughts.
There was an article posted on Dualshockers suggesting that GTA 6 could be the last GTA title. Tom agreed with it, suggesting that the popularity of GTA Online paired with an evolving map could mean that Rockstar would only focus on the online mode after GTA 6’s release.
Flashbacks and Red Dead Redemption-Style dialogues
A leak posted on Pastebin said that GTA 6 will allow players to move between big cities such as Liberty City and Vice City.
The post also claimed that there would be multiple flashbacks between missions. Also, there will be Red Dead Redemption 2-styled stranger dialogues that will let them use the greet/antagonize format.
The leak also suggested that the game will not release for PS4 and Xbox One, but that is something that many of us expect at this point.
Crop Duster over Miami
There was an image that started getting thrown around in July 2021 that showed a crop duster flying over Miami. The post was made on Reddit, and the person who posted claimed that a high-ranking Rockstar insider had sent it to them.
However, many people thought that the image would be from either Crew 2 or the Microsoft Flight simulator. But no one was able to find the exact location for comparison.
Additionally, the minimap in the gameplay is shown
to be the same as the RDR2 map that was leaked way before its launch with grid numbers on it. The person who might’ve made the image probably included it so that the RDR2 users would recognize the map and know that it is a fake.
Then again, it is possible that the image is, in fact, real as it did not match with any other games. As for the map, it could just be an unpolished version of the final map. Therefore, whether the image is real or fake is still a mystery.
Cities: Skylines image leak
Another post made on Reddit caught the attention of many users. The image showed a nice-looking sunlight with the city in view.
However, the image was quickly debunked as people claimed that the screenshot was from the game “Cities: Skylines.”
GTA 6 SoundTrack
Recently a new leak has circulated online by a Twitter account called @NEWSLEAKSGTAS. Until recently, there was no idea what kind of music would be incorporated in GTA 6. Fans speculated that GTA 6 might go for something modern and less tropical. They were expecting a Need for Speed experience with Hip Hop tracks.
But GTA’s signature music has always been Country, Soft Rock, R&B, and Alternative Indie. And in all honesty, it’s amazing how GTA retains it. For fans who wanted to have nostalgic feels while playing GTA, fortunately, we might be having a soundtrack from John Mayer himself. Someone messaged @NEWSLEAKSGTAS with extremely short audio with the protagonist saying something with John Mayer’s Last Train Home playing in the background.
In the audio clip, we can also hear planes passing in the city’s skyline indicating that we might get a huge map to explore. Moreover, people are claiming that this rumor has a high chance of being accurate as John Mayer’s album cover matches Vice City’s logo. However, all of this is mere speculation and nothing can be said prior to any official statement.
Niko Bellic And Michael De Santa Might Return
With many rumors circulating online, another rumor came into the spotlight about the possible involvement of two characters from the previous GTA titles. According to one Redditor “ GTA_VI_Leak” who is known for many accurate leaks, said that Niko Bellic might appear in GTA 6. In his post, the leaker informed us that Niko Bellic was never caught and we get to hear many stories about The Serb going around in Liberty City. There was a tiny reference about Niko in GTA 5 and it seems that he will have some role in the upcoming game as well.
But that is not all. The insider added to his post that Ned Luke, the actor of Michael De Santa is currently working with Rockstar Games. It was rumored that he might appear in GTA online but the insider thinks there is more to it. He thinks that we might be getting a GTA DLC or he could be working on a movie in Vice City. So it is possible we might see him in GTA 6 but again this is all just speculation.
GTA 6 Prebuild Gameplay Leaks
There has been a recent leak of GTA 6 that has hinted at two main protagonists of the game. We might be getting a male and female protagonist in the game. There have been various leaks that point toward two characters and one of them is expected to be a female. Several videos were leaked showing the gameplay of Grand Theft Auto 6. The development footage was leaked by a hacker.
A user by the name of Teapottuberhacker took to GTA forums to post a zip file. The zip file had 90 clips and footage from the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6. He also stated that he might be able to leak more data in the near future and it could be code and assets for GTA 5 and GTA 6 sources. Furthermore, he might also release GTA 6 testing build.
As soon as the leak was released the videos made their way into Twitter and YouTube. The videos showed fully voiced conversations, how robberies look like in the game, and some gunplay as well.
Gameplay
The physics of the game seems very much like Red Dead Redemption 2. So you can expect some changes in the final build of the game. Also, the debug UI happy we see in the video it’s almost the same as we saw in one of the leaked videos from Red Dead Redemption two. In one of the videos, two NPCs were having a conversation about Jay Norris being dead.
Jay Norris is no stranger to GTA 5 fans as he was the CEO of Life Invader and he was killed by Michael in the game. So it is important to note that GTA 6 is set after 2013 when these events have passed.
There are also some clips that demonstrate jumping, using boats, driving cars, and shooting weapons. Some of the clips also hint toward crouching making a return from GTA 4. Furthermore, in one of the police cars from the clips, you can clearly read the initials of the Vice City Police Department. So the police force is probably part of port Gellhorn. The game setting is around Miami like Vice City.
In another clip, we can see a character named Lucia robbing a waffle restaurant. Lucia with an accomplice called Jason took hostages as well while there was a meter counting down to time until cops were dispatched. The system is very similar to the one we see in Red Dead Redemption two. The voice acting demonstrated so far in the leaked clips seems good.
The leak claimed that the game was in development since 2014. Also, it was originally code name to be Project Americas. The files that have been leaked all have the word America in their names. Also, some of these show a version being played on the PlayStation 4 kit for developers.
November 2022 Update
Microsoft predicts the launch date of GTA 6
In the most recent news, Microsoft just released a statement regarding the release date of Grand Theft Auto 6. The company expects that Grand Theft Auto 6 will launch sometime in 2024. Most fans know that ever since the leaks of GTA 6 gameplay surfaced online, there was hardly any official statement from the developers. However, soon after the developer stated that the leaks were indeed accurate and that GTA 6 is being developed actively despite the fans thinking otherwise.
Even with all the leaks, fans were still impatient about GTA6 and when will it release. Recently, Microsoft released a statement for the UK’s competition and markets authority that Grand Theft Auto is to release sometime in 2024. The statement can be seen on page 24 of the document submitted for the CMA.
There was also a report from Bloomberg that suggested that the game won’t be released before 2024. Take two also recently announced that any of the leaks will not affect GTA 6’s development but there could be some changes in the future.
But in the end, it is still a hypothetical date and fans expect the developers to release an official statement regarding the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 soon.
With that, you now know everything to know about GTA 6. There have been a lot of leaks over the past few years. These leaks will continue to come till the game is released. We still don’t have an exact date of release, but many are hoping to get their hands on GTA 6 by mid-2024. We’ll have to stick around to find out ourselves.
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