Grand Theft Auto 5 is an absolute juggernaut, having sold over 145 million copies and showing no signs of stopping down, and it’s because of this success that we’ve gone so long without a new GTA game. That there will be a new Grand Theft Auto at some point is an inevitability though, and a new rumour may have revealed potential details on the game.
Known industry insider Tom Henderson has had a solid track record with leaks, especially when it comes to Battlefield and Call of Duty, and recently, he uploaded video talking about the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6- which, according to him, is going to be set in modern-day Vice City (via GamesRadar). While we’ve only ever seen Vice City during the 80s until now, Henderson states Rockstar doesn’t want a period setting to limit the game’s online component.
Henderson also states that like its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto 6 is going to have multiple playable protagonists, one of whom is going to be a woman. Vice City being the game’s setting and it having the series’ first female protagonist are details that have come up in previous rumours as well.
Henderson’s video also claims that the game will feature a map that grows and changes over time, likening it to Fortnite. A report last year claimed that Grand Theft Auto 6, allegedly in early development at the time, would launch as medium-sized game, with Rockstar intending to expand it with regular post-launch updates.
Finally, Henderson also states that the game is probably not going to come out for a while, and might even launch as late as 2025- which is something that Rockstar can surely afford, given the persevering success of GTA 5. Henderson states that wanting to avoid crunch in the wake of damning reports of Red Dead Redemption 2’s development is one of the reasons for delaying development so much. Another reason is that the game is apparently going to release only for the new consoles, and Rockstar wants their install bases to grow before it launches.
As is always the case with any unverified leak – especially when it comes to Grand Theft Auto, it’s best to take this wait a grain of salt. The details do line up with other past rumours- but then again, those, too, were rumours.
In the meantime, if you want to play Grand Theft Auto 5 again, you can do so when it launches for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S later this year.