Rockstar have seen tremendous success with Grand Theft Auto V. The game has shipped 45 million units till date and with the PC launch happening next month, that number could very well surpass 50 million. Given the game’s massive success, it’s only obvious that Rockstar will follow up with Grand Theft Auto 6 or may be a sequel to Red Dead Redemption.
But Wedbush Securities’ Michael Pachter disagrees. He believes that Rockstar are motivated by developing experiences for the player and not by money. So instead of announcing a sequel, they will most likely announce a new IP.
“I don’t think the sequel to Red Dead Redemption is the next Rockstar game. Remember when I said there was some new IP that they’ve been working on since at least ‘09? I think that comes before Red Dead Revolution. I think a sequel to Midnight Club comes before Red Dead Revolution, and it wouldn’t shock me if a sequel to Manhunt came before Bully or Red Dead.”
“I think Rockstar has a really amazing number of great games and great IPs, and I don’t think that Rockstar are motivated by money. I think Rockstar are motivated by high quality game experiences. And I don’t think that they’re willing to abandon those other brands in order to generate higher sales for their parent company. I think that they want to keep all those brands alive. So I think before Red Dead Revolution you will get Midnight Club sequel and a new IP.”
“And remember, Rockstar has launched a game every single year since 2001, if you count Grand Theft Auto V on next gen as a game. I don’t know if we should count Grand Theft Auto V as a game or not on next gen. Otherwise they’ve missed one. They’re working on a lot of projects, they get one game a year out.”
“There is no chance that they would have gotten into February of ‘15 without announcing the next Red Dead. I mean, they announced the next Grand Theft Auto on November 1st, 2011. Remember? And it came out on September 17th, 2013, so almost two years later. I think you’ll hear about Red Dead at least a year ahead of time. So if you hear about it this summer, it’s coming out next year. Maybe. But we haven’t heard about it yet. I think they could get away with not announcing Midnight Club, or Bully, on Manhunt 3 or whatever until E3, and I frankly think that the reason we haven’t heard about the new IP is because it’s a new IP.”
Michael Pachter predicts that Rockstar will announce the new IP closer to E3 in their own event to garner attention.
“I think that the brand new IP that Rockstar has been working on since ‘09 will be announced this year. Rockstar tends to not go to E3, so they’ll probably have their own event in May or something. Knowing them, they’ll probably have it during E3 in another city just to draw attention. But I think it’s a new IP this year. I don’t think it’s Red Dead, so no, I think that’s naive of people to believe that the Rockstar are going to follow the success of GTA V with more GTA.”
Given that Rockstar’s major game for 2015 seems to be Grand Theft Auto 5 on PC, I’d say there is a fair chance that we may see Rockstar announce a new game later this year. Personally, I would take a sequel to Red Dead Redemption anytime but a new IP by by Rockstar sounds intriguing.
We will make sure to keep you update on what Rockstar is up to as the year rolls out.
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