Update: Rockstar suffers major GTA 6 leak — here's what we know.
It’s perhaps not shocking that Grand Theft Auto 6 is officially in development, but, well, Grand Theft Auto 6 is officially in development. Developer Rockstar Games confirmed the news today (Feb. 4) on its official Newswire, offering a brief statement at the end of a much longer Grand Theft Auto Online update:
“We are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway,” the statement read. “We look forward to sharing more as soon as we are ready, so please stay tuned to the Rockstar Newswire for official details.”
It’s short and sweet — so much so, in fact, that Rockstar reiterated essentially the same message on Twitter:
Many of you have been asking about a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series.With every new project, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we've previously delivered. We're pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the series is underway.February 4, 2022
Naturally, we still have more questions than answers about Grand Theft Auto 6 at this stage. We don’t know when it will come out; we don’t know what systems it will be for; we don’t know where it will take place; we don’t know whether it will continue any story threads from the previous games. Technically speaking, we don’t even know if Rockstar will call it “Grand Theft Auto VI,” since game sequels with actual numbers on them don’t seem to be in vogue these days.
Grand Theft Auto V debuted back in 2013, so nine years seems like long enough to wait between full installments. However, it’s worth noting that GTA V’s multiplayer mode, Grand Theft Auto Online, has been running constantly since 2013 as well, and has arguably outstripped the single-player game in terms of success and influence. Whether Grand Theft Auto 6 will introduce a new online mode, or simply stick to a single-player adventure, will be an interesting question to consider.
Even apart from Grand Theft Auto Online, the series hasn’t been entirely dormant since GTA V came out. In 2021, we had the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition launch on PC and consoles. Charitably speaking, it was a bit of a mess, with busted visual effects and an especially shoddy Switch port. Rockstar has fixed some of the game’s problems over the past few months, but it’s probably a good thing that the company seems to be taking its time with GTA 6.
Otherwise, we’ll know more when Rockstar decides to share more. Now that Rockstar has officially acknowledged the game, we assume that some kind of teaser trailer can’t be too far behind, perhaps at one of this year’s big gaming shows. We wouldn’t expect to see the game this year, however — Rockstar generally moves at its own pace.
