GTA 6 Anticipation is High, but Some Players Will Be Disappointed Regardless

We’re past the first quarter of 2024, and despite some big launches, with more than a few yet to come, it still feels like we’re biding time until next year. Not because that may be when Hollow Knight: Silksong ends up finally launching (I hope), but due to the number of confirmed blockbusters to look forward to. Monster Hunter Wilds, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, and, of course, Grand Theft Auto 6.

Since its reveal on December 5th, 2023, the trailer for Rockstar North’s next open-world magnum opus has amassed over 185 million views. That’s already way higher than the +109 million for Grand Theft Auto 5’s first trailer released 12 years ago and a different stratosphere than Red Dead Redemption 2’s first, which has over 24 million views since debuting some seven years ago. After years of rumors, fans finally showcased just how excited they were for actual gameplay, leaks be damned.

While “rabid” may be more apropos, it highlights that the Grand Theft Auto franchise is as popular as ever. To that end, however, Grand Theft Auto 6 may likely end up disappointing some fans, as unlikely as it sounds. No, not necessarily because of quality – Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has already talked about how Rockstar is “seeking perfection” and how, despite the potentially “inherent tension” between releasing something and ensuring it is perfect, the developer “errs on the side” of the latter. As always, it pays to see the final result, but given the company’s track record, it’s unlikely that Grand Theft Auto 6 won’t have the polish and production values expected from Rockstar.

However, it won’t necessarily have everything that every player could want. It sounds reasonable to expect that, but that’s the consequence of Grand Theft Auto being such a popular franchise. Everyone has different expectations for what it should offer. Those who spent years participating in GTA Online’s races may expect the driving aspect to vastly improve in some way.

Meanwhile, players who spent an absurd amount of time heisting or just playing deathmatch would likely expect a drastic overhaul of the combat and shooting mechanics. Just because Grand Theft Auto 5 was a massive commercial and critical hit, it doesn’t mean many players won’t expect the sequel to go above and beyond that.

Maybe it’s unreasonable to expect the previous title or even Red Dead Redemption 2 to be the baseline. Remember the stories of crunch and Rockstar obsessing over every minute detail – like deciding in the final year of development that every cutscene should have black bars on the top and bottom? Unconsciously, fans will expect something better or, at the very least, a sequel that leverages the learnings of previous titles with today’s technology to create a brand-new experience.

A sequel that’s also fun and provides dozens of hours of compelling gameplay with exquisite attention to detail, well-made side missions, an excellent narrative, photorealistic visuals, exceptional facial animation – the list goes on. Some may expect it to be an accurate rendition of Florida, while others expect actual myths and legends to be incorporated in some way or another. Anything less won’t necessarily ruin the experience, but again, your mileage could vary

Of course, there are other areas where Grand Theft Auto 6 could end up falling slightly below expectations, particularly with the scale. Insider Tez2 reported last year that the development team may cut some portions of the game to package into post-launch DLC to avoid further delaying the release. This is in line with a previous report about new single-player content coming after release, including new instanced cities.

Interestingly, one “leaker” has alleged that the map is about twice as large as Los Santos, with three major cities, four sub-cities and smaller surrounding areas, with 70 percent of the buildings reportedly explorable. The leaker was, hilariously enough, friends with the son of a Rockstar Games employee and showcased some actual in-game footage before the first trailer dropped. You should take the other details with some grain of salt, especially the part about targeting a Fall 2024 release.

Nevertheless, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Rockstar reportedly desiring a smaller scale for Grand Theft Auto 6. When he was still with Kotaku, journalist Jason Schreier reported in 2020 how the developer was looking to make it a “medium-sized game” to avoid crunch. While still offering a sizable open-world experience, it would reportedly be less ambitious than the team originally intended. It would allegedly then add new cities and locations in post-launch updates, and though plans can always change, seeing this echoed again in more recent insider reports indicates it may be the case.

Will the quality vs. quantity debate win out in that regard? Time will tell, but personally, even if it doesn’t have the same scale as its predecessor, a more fleshed-out city with fewer activities that are more fleshed out alongside well-developed stories and characters is preferable. Again, your mileage may vary, which again reinforces the fact that you can’t please everyone.

Even if we discount all of the above, there’s a large number of players who will be disappointed regardless – the PC community. Grand Theft Auto 6 is launching on Xbox Series X/S and PS5 first. Rockstar didn’t mention a PC version, and while the assumption is that it could launch roughly a year after, as with Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, it’s not a guarantee.

There’s also the question of performance. Given that more big-budget current-gen titles opt for 30 frames per second, especially those with open worlds, Grand Theft Auto 6 may follow the same trend. It wouldn’t be surprising from Rockstar – the developer is known for pushing the limits on graphical fidelity and opting for 30 FPS, as seen with its last two titles.

Its whims can always vary – Grand Theft Auto 5 finally ran at 60 FPS on the Xbox Series X and PS5 via a re-release, but Red Dead Redemption 2 remains locked to 30 FPS, and there’s no sign of a patch or remaster. If the rumored PS5 Pro launches next year, Rockstar could likely release an update to add a 60 FPS mode. However, that leaves default PS5 (and Xbox Series X, forget S) owners in the dust.

It’s one thing to launch a game and then update it for more powerful consoles several years down the line, but telling current-gen owners that their platforms won’t be the best place to experience one of the most anticipated games ever? Not something that could go down very well, and likely to create some manner of disappointment.

As always, we need to wait for more details from Rockstar. The scant minutes of gameplay footage it’s shown have only piqued interest further, but specifics – from what you can do in-game to its frame rate and resolution on different platforms – are still required. Regardless of whether it has everything that caters to every single fan, old or new, on the planet, Grand Theft Auto 6 can be appreciated and enjoyed for what it does right, above all else.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.