the future of GTA 6 looks different than you think

Fans are counting on an announcement of the next Grand Theft Auto, GTA 6, at practically every major gaming event. The successor to GTA 5 will probably take longer than most fans hope, however.

GTA 6 in Vice City?

Rumors have been circulating for some time that the next GTA will take place in Vice City. A Reddit user named Fresh305954 claimed in October last year that he ran into a Rockstar Games scout in Wynwood, Miami, the developer behind GTA. The scout in question wanted to take pictures of the inside of the place where he works, according to the Redditor, as the basis for the design for the next GTA.

That same user later posted a photo of what he says is a contract with Rockstar, for keeping the entire operation secret. Unfortunately that would leak could of course be completely made up, but the story sounds very logical. Wynwood is a colorful neighborhood full of graffiti and colorful buildings. A great source of inspiration for an over-the-top version of Miami for a new Vice City game.

Early stage of development

Anyway, that’s all old news. What’s interesting now is the fact that that post was posted in October 2019. If photos were actually only taken at the time as a basis for the design of GTA 6, it would mean that the game was still in an early development phase at that time.

Considering it takes four years alone to record all the acting for Grand Theft Auto games, that would mean fans will have to wait for years to come. Especially now that the next-gen consoles are on the doorstep, the technical possibilities are greater than ever. Rockstar Games can conjure up huge worlds on your screen. But yes, those worlds must also be filled. Bigger and more ambitious games are great, but simply take more time and money to develop.

Pandemic and voice actors

Plus: don’t forget the current pandemic. It is unclear what impact the pandemic has (had) on the development of all games that Rockstar is keeping secret for the time being, including the successor to GTA 5. However, some delay seems inevitable.

And then we have the three voice actors behind the main characters of GTA 5. Ned Luke, the voice actor behind Michael De Santa, was skeptical about the rumors:

They say GTA 6 is being made in Vice City. How do all these people get all this information about what’s going to happen? “Said the voice actor” Don’t believe anything you see on the internet. Only when you hear it from Rockstar, you will know. ” Always good advice, of course.

Long or short wait?

The other two actors contradict each other when it comes to the question of how long we still have to wait. Shawn Fonteno, the voice of Franklin, stressed on Instagram that it takes a very long time to make these kinds of games.

“Don’t give Rockstar so bad, man. Don’t rush them like that … The whole “You guys milk GTA 5” and “when are six coming out?” You have to understand, it’s a long process to release these games man, ”said the actor. He then explained that it took four and a half years alone to film and finish all their acting work for GTA V.

Fonteno therefore expects that we will have to wait a long time before we can rip around in Vice City. Steven Ogg, the voice of the wonderfully insane Trevor, is more optimistic. In 2019 he emphasized that fans themselves “the math could do ”. According to Ogg, the new Grand Theft Auto would be released soon as the games “take seven or eight years to make.”

Twee GTA’s?

The big question is: are we looking forward to the wrong GTA? Rockstar Games has honed its engine for the release of GTA 5 on the next-gen consoles. The studio could also choose to make a Vice City game within that engine and on that scale, connecting to the ever lucrative GTA Online, while working parallel to that development on Grand Theft Auto 6, with which the power of next-gen consoles are only really being used.

Political climate

Co-founder Dan Houser, who has since left Rockstar, has repeatedly stressed how difficult it would be to release a new GTA in America’s current political climate. Writing poignant satire in rapidly changing America is practically impossible, and the potential controversy would be greater than ever, according to Houser. Choosing a Vice City instead of a GTA 6 would therefore be a smart solution.

The conclusion? We still know practically nothing about what Rockstar is doing. Take all rumors and comments from, for example, the voice actors with an enormous grain of salt. In any case, one thing seems more clear than ever: fans will have to wait a long time for GTA 6. The question is: but is that the next GTA? The future will tell.