There are plenty of fans of the Grand Theft Auto series who are familiar with the memes that circulate on Facebook, Twitter and Reddit, and around the channels of packed GTA 5 Discord servers.
It really shouldn't be a problem, considering the number of updates that GTA Online has seen over the past few years, with heists and numerous new missions to keep gamers happy. However, it is a problem. Not even the mildly interesting L.A. Noire in 2011 or the 2018 smash hit of Red Dead Redemption 2 could satiate the masses. Claims of "GTA in the Wild West" were scoffed at, and pitchforks were held high as the faithful Shark Card carrying fans demanded their follow up to the second biggest game of the last decade, with 145 million copies sold. The biggest selling game in the last ten years was actually Minecraft, if you're interested, with 200 million copies sold.
Quickly going back to RDR2 - according to Wikipedia, Red Dead Redemption 2 made over US$725 million in revenue in just three days, with over 17 million copies sold in two weeks. With a fanbase demographic that was both old enough to remember the first game, as well as being deeply in love with the open-world mechanics of GTA 5, RDR 2 was always going to be a success. With the addition of online multiplayer, the game continues to grow in terms of users and cult status.
Largely, this success is down to the Rockstar game engine, RAGE (Rockstar Advanced Game Engine), which has been used in titles such as Max Payne 3, GTA IV and Table Tennis. With car, horse, ragdoll and world physics that just feel right, Rockstar has made games that immerse players from the get-go and have hardly put a foot wrong. Okay, there were a few bugs.
And, funnily enough, it is this game engine that has caused some of the rumours that GTA 6 is being made right now. An "expanded and enhanced" version of GTA 5 is planned for March 2022 for PS5 and Xbox Series X owners. The release was originally scheduled for November 11, 2021. There have been speculations that the enhanced and expanded version is a result of changes made for GTA 6.
GTA 6 Announcement November 2021 - Press X To Doubt
The November announcement is a product of a leaker posting on Instagram.
Leaker @ThatsSoBold claims there will be a constantly changing GTA 6 map, which will be changed via updates (similar to Fortnite). This was also touched on by another leaker – Tom Henderson – as well as “confirmed” or at least given some weight by journalist Jason Schreier.
Henderson claimed a voice actor by the name of “Dave Jackson” has been playing the voice actor for a character named “Captain McClane” in an upcoming Grand Theft Auto project, and it is rumoured that “Captain McClane” could be a police chief in GTA 6.
Of course, the subject of NDAs came up on Reddit almost immediately, so if our guy Dave actually did have a call up, he wouldn't have been legally allowed to tweet about it?
One thing that sticks out is the map being 3x the size of the GTA 5 map. If you hate driving all the way to Blaine County, then imagine how you'll feel grinding out your income that takes three times as long! In all honesty, I for one dislike having to drive up north to finish missions, usually doing dead drops, as it took all of the punch out of the action in the game. It was almost as if you could guess that once you'd picked up product of some description, you'd then have to take it all the way to the top of the map and come all the way back to civilisation when you were done. Pure speculation, of course, but worth a thought.
Henderson is known for publishing videos leaking games such as Battlefield 2042 in the form of sketches. In the “GTA 6” sketch, jets fly behind in a backdrop featuring palm trees, while off to the right, a game character uses a jetpack we’re already familiar with in GTA Online. A Grand Theft Auto 6 logo also displays a neon-style ‘VI’ which could be a hint to a possible aesthetic.
Henderson tweeted regarding speculation on the drawing, saying he "loves drawing concepts. Of concepts." Henderson then followed up with "the drawing is of existing assets on Google. They are not direct drawings of concept art… But a concept of a concept, using existing assets. :)" as a possible nod to the fact there could be Grand Theft Auto 6 assets available somewhere online.
These are the most – and I use the term loosely – credible leaks, owing to the fact that Henderson’s previous sketches of Battlefield 2042 concepts have proven authoritative.
Jason Schreier went on to pour a little petrol on the Twitter flames with his tweet:
GTA 6 Release In 2022/2023?
All of these rumours look to be pointing to a 2022 or 2023 release, and it seems we might be getting some news as early as November this year. All of this with absolutely no real, hard evidence in the form of assets, we domain purchases or game development files as in previous game leaks that were a result of datamining by eager fans.
One thing is for sure, Rockstar are keeping their cards well and truly close to their chest, muting mentions of GTA 6 on their YouTube channel…
We live in hope. And if I may quote a fellow Redditor – I hope I live long enough to see the next installment of GTA.
