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Introduction
The Grand Theft Auto series is one of the largest video game franchises of all time, with over 385 million copies sold since it began in 1997. After GTA 5 sold over 185 million copies, GTA 6 has become arguably the most highly anticipated video game of all time.
Despite it being close to a decade since GTA 5 was released, Rockstar Games has been incredibly silent regarding Grand Theft Auto 6, with fans left to speculate what could be in store when the next entry is released.
With a massive GTA 6 leak being posted online in September 2022, we now have the first pieces of information about the game and what to expect. Here is everything we know about GTA 6 so far.
Bottom Line Up Front
On September 19, 2022, a huge GTA 6 leak was posted online featuring gameplay and lots of information on what we can expect to see from the game when it is released.
This includes the location, protagonist, and much more. Rockstar Games later confirmed the leaks were real, but it will not impact the development of GTA 6.
GTA 6 Has Been Leaked
Earlier this year, leaked images and video clips began surfacing online, seemingly showing off an alpha version of Grand Theft Auto 6. This leak had been taken from the Rockstar North Slack account. The game looked bare bones compared to what fans expect from a finished product. Due to the unfinished nature of the footage, fans speculated and debated the validity of what we were seeing.
However, these doubts were soon squashed after Rockstar Games began taking down content relating to the leaks, indicating they were legitimate. Eventually, Rockstar Games released a statement confirming the leaks were real, saying,
“We recently suffered a network intrusion in which an unauthorized third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from our systems, including early development footage of the next Grand Theft Auto. At this time, we do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services nor any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects.”
Much of the information that was revealed in the leaks was already known prior due to previous leaks and rumors. Still, it was great to finally confirm what will be coming to the game when GTA 6 is eventually released.
What the Leaks Confirm
This first section will include things that the GTA 6 leak confirmed that will be coming to the game when it is released. These include things such as the location and characters for GTA 6.
It Will Take Place in Vice City
It has long been speculated and leaked that Vice City would be the location used in GTA 6. Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas were all used in the classic sixth-generation titles. Since then, GTA 4 has taken place in Liberty City, while GTA 5 took place in Los Santos, which San Andreas is part of. This left Vice City as the only location yet to be seen in a new game from the classic GTA trilogy.
The recent leaks confirmed that Vice City would be the setting for Grand Theft Auto 6. Vice City is based on real-life Miami, Florida, so expect plenty of sunshine, beaches, and palm trees.
GTA 6 Will Take Place in the Present
GTA Vice City and San Andreas saw the series go back to the 80s and 90s, respectively. However, GTA 4 and 5 both took place during the year the games were released, in 2008 and 2013.
This trend is set to continue as GTA 6 will take place in the 2020s, although the year hasn’t been specified yet. Some leaks have suggested that players could head back in time to the 60s or 70s during the prologue to set up the events leading up to the main story.
South America Could Also Be a Location
One of the longest-standing rumors for GTA 6 is that the game could see players head to South America, likely as part of the prologue. Much like how GTA 5 begins in North Yankton before transitioning to Los Santos, GTA 6 could see players start in a fictional Rio De Janeiro. It has been speculated that this will be during the 60s or 70s.
GTA 6 Will Feature a Female Protagonist
For the first time in the franchise’s history, Grand Theft Auto 6 will feature a female protagonist. Until now, all of the protagonists have been male, with many becoming iconic, such as Tommy Vercetti, Franklin, Michael, Trevor, CJ, and Niko. Having a female protagonist will be a welcomed change of pace. It will bring a new perspective to the game from the character’s standpoint, and it will be interesting to see how Rockstar Games portrays her.
The Game Will Feature Two Protagonists
Like GTA 5, there will be multiple protagonists in GTA 6. Although GTA 5 had three different protagonists to play as, GTA 6 will scale it back to just two. This will allow each of their stories to be more fleshed out and larger than in the previous entry. The second protagonist will be a male character, bringing a stark contrast to the main female protagonist.
It is unclear what the relationship between the two characters will be. Jason Schreier noted in a Bloomberg report that the characters are heavily inspired by Bonnie and Clyde.
Leaks & Rumors
This second section will include leaks and rumors that we have seen in recent months, but the data leak didn’t confirm. That doesn’t mean that these won’t be in the game, just that we cannot confirm it at the time of writing.
GTA 6 Trailer Will Be Released Soon
Brazilian GTA YouTuber SanInPlay has recently claimed that a reveal trailer for GTA 6 will be released by Rockstar Games soon. In the past, SanInPlay has correctly revealed information regarding the GTA franchise, which does add validity to his claims. In the trailer, SanInPlay claims that we will see the female protagonist exercising in prison, a lizard crossing the street, and dogs playing on the beach. The trailer will also heavily focus on the protagonist.
The Protagonists Names
We know that there will be two protagonists in GTA 6, a male and a female, for the first time ever in the franchise. The same leak from SanInPlay also revealed what their names would be. The female protagonist will be called Lucia, while the male protagonist will be called Jason.
GTA Online Will Continue in GTA 6
Grand Theft Auto Online started as a free mode that GTA 5 owners could play, putting you in Los Santos with many other players as you build your criminal empires. Since its release, GTA Online has grown to be a large part of GTA 5’s continued success, with 100,000-200,000 concurrent players on Steam at any one time and hundreds of thousands more playing on PlayStation and Xbox.
Over the years, GTA Online has continued to expand Los Santos with new buildings and locations, dozens of new storylines, more music, vehicles, and even a brand new island.
Despite its age, GTA Online is still generating approximately $1 billion for Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive each year. This is one cash cow they will want to hold on to. Because of this, GTA Online will be continuing when GTA 6 launches. It isn’t clear yet how this will work, whether the game will get a brand new map and use Vice City, or whether both Los Santos and Vice City will be selectable so players don’t lose all of their hard work.
It is also possible that a brand new GTA Online will be released, similar to Warzone 2.0. We will have to wait for Grand Theft Auto 6 to be announced before we know what Rockstar Games has up its sleeve, but fans of the mode will be happy that it isn’t going anywhere.
GTA 6 Could Have an Evolving Map
Like Fortnite, Rockstar Games could be looking to take inspiration and evolve the GTA 6 map over time. It has previously been reported that the original plan was for the Grand Theft Auto 6 map to be much larger than it will be, with it ending up being scaled down. Expanding the map over the coming years through numerous updates could allow Rockstar Games to create its vision for GTA 6 as originally intended.
A previous job listing in 2021 does hint at this, with the position calling for a live event coordinator. These live events have often been used in battle royale games to further expand the story and provide real-time changes to the game. It is possible that this position was related to that, but nothing has been confirmed at the time of writing.
Domain Renewals Hint at Future Plans
Website domains must be renewed regularly, usually every 1-5 years. Recently, Rockstar Games has renewed a number of domains relating to GTA 6. These include GTAVI, GTAViceCityOnline, and RockstarCartel. This does help to confirm that GTA Online will be set in Vice City in the future.
Rockstar Cartel is an interesting one, this could be a subscription service or a new feature in GTA Online, but nothing has been confirmed. It is possible that the domain will never be used by Rockstar Games, and they have instead snapped it up for possible use in the future.
Cryptocurrency Could Be Featured in GTA 6
The last few years have seen cryptocurrency’s popularity rise, with it going from a very niche digital asset to a staple in many investment portfolios. With GTA 6 set in modern times, it could feature cryptocurrency in some capacity. GTA 5 saw an increased use of cell phones and the ability to trade stocks, so cryptocurrency seems like a logical game evolution. Cryptocurrency would be a great way for the criminal underworld to move money and pay you for jobs.
Development Restarted Following Dan Houser Departure
The GTA series has always been praised for its story. The great storytelling is often attributed to Dan Houser, who has written the story for every game since GTA London: 1969. House left Rockstar Games in 2020, and it has been reported that development has been restarted following his departure.
It is unlikely that the game was completely scrapped, but Rockstar Games may have been getting all hands on deck to create a compelling story if Houser still needed to complete it before his departure. But, regardless of his involvement in GTA 6 or not, it will be interesting to see if the quality of the story suffers in future entries of the series.
When Is GTA 6 Being Released?
This is the billion-dollar question that millions of gamers are eager to know. And the answer is…we don’t know right now. It has long been rumored that Grand Theft Auto 6 will release in either 2024 or 2025. Tom Henderson predicted this date back in 2021 and still sticks by it today, with it seeming ever more likely as the date gets closer. Although we hope it will be released sooner rather than later, if we look at past trends, it is safe to assume, it will be released in 2025 at the earliest.
With previous games such as GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, the game has released approximately two years after the first trailer for the game was revealed. The first GTA 5 trailer was revealed in 2011, followed by the game being released in 2013. While the first Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer was revealed in 2015, followed by the game being released in 2017.
At the time of writing, we are heading toward the end of 2022, and Rockstar Games has yet to reveal a trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6, so unless the company breaks tradition, it is unlikely to release in 2025. Once a trailer is revealed, we can expect the Grand Theft Auto 6 to launch approximately two years later unless it features a release date.
FAQ
Question:Â What platforms will Grand Theft Auto 6 be released on?
Answer: When it comes to determining which platforms GTA 6 will be released on, we can look back at previous games such as GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 for the possible answer. GTA 5 launched in late 2013 on the PS3 and Xbox 360, both of which were the latest consoles at the time. The following year the game was ported to the PS4 and Xbox One before making its way to PC in 2015.
More recently, we have seen GTA 5 be released on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, meaning it has been released on three different console generations. With the game likely being really demanding and the potential release date, it is extremely likely that it won’t be released on the PS4 and Xbox
One and instead will target the current-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with later ports on the PS6 and the next Xbox console.
Since the release of GTA 5, PC gaming has exploded in popularity, with the current Steam record for concurrent users being over 26 million. Because of this, I don’t think we will have to wait two years to see a PC port as we did with GTA 5. Red Dead Redemption 2 was released just one week after its release on console, and it is likely that this will be the case for GTA 6 if not a simultaneous release for both console and PC on the same day.
Question:Â Is Grand Theft Auto 6 a sequel to Vice City?
Answer: Although we can’t say for certain right now, there is currently no evidence to suggest that GTA 6 will be a direct sequel to GTA Vice City. Previous games that have taken place in the same city as another game haven’t been sequels. There have been plenty of Easter eggs seen in later titles that revisit older locations, but the two games are never directly tied together through their stories.
Question:Â Will any characters from Vice City be in Grand Theft Auto 6?
Answer: It is believed that GTA 6 will take place in the modern day. This will place the game 40 years after the events of Vice City. Because of this, most of the characters seen in Vice City will likely be canonically dead. However, some may still be alive and could appear in the game.
There are also rumors that part of the game will take place in a fictional South America in the 1960s or 70s, which would make a perfect place for some characters to make a return as all of the characters seen in Vice City will have been alive during this period due to the game being set in the 80s.
Conclusion
It is safe to say that when GTA 6 is eventually released, it will likely break many records, with many currently held by GTA 5. GTA 6 will become one of the best-selling video games of all time, and we are eagerly awaiting any fresh news on the game.
As of right now, it is believed that GTA 6 will be released in late 2024, but that wait will feel like a lifetime as millions of gamers wait to return to Vice City for the first time in over 15 years.