With GTA 6 quite a long while away from its final release, I began to wonder if Crimson Desert could allow me to muster a bit of patience, leading me to think about how very different titles have more in common than you’d think. For starters, they feature multiple playable characters in a seamless open world that has a lot to do and discover in it.

Their stories are meant to be engrossing while their worlds are meant to be distracting, pulling you in a different direction than the one you intended to take when you settle down for some playtime. It’s a design philosophy that we’ve seen quite often over the years, with GTA 5 being quite a good showcase of how that formula works.

It’s quite simple, really. Just give players a massive world to explore, and all the agency they need to craft their own journey to the narrative’s climax, making fond memories along the way. It’s worked very well before, and with Crimson Desert all set for a March 2026 release, I believe that Pywell is quite an acceptable destination to live out my RPG fantasies while I wait for GTA 6 to drop after years of waiting for it.

Perhaps you’re not convinced? That’s all right. Allow me to take you through why I believe Crimson Desert is going to be a balm for my impatience in what is now the final leg of a long wait for Rockstar’s upcoming blockbuster release.

The Size and Scope of Pywell

Everything I’ve seen of Crimson Desert so far, recent showcases included, points to Pywell being an absolutely ginormous map. With five distinct regions, each with its own underlying theme and residents that reflect those themes, I can already see myself spending hours losing myself in its biomes, hunting down objective after objective while Klyff’s narrative adventure takes a backseat.

That’s already an open world that wins in my book, and the sheer amount of cool things to do in Pywell already has me cracking my knuckles in preparation for some very long gaming sessions next month. The traversal mechanics look sublime, and getting to ride a horse, glide on your own wings (sort of), or hop onto a massive dragon to soar across the lands gives me the impression that they’re all there to ensure that we’re less likely to miss out on all that this mysterious land has to offer.

It takes me back to GTA 5 and the way in which we always had a vehicle at our disposal, and could choose to obtain one based on the situation at hand. Need a quick way to weave between vehicles on the road? Get your hands on a motorcycle. Need to take to the skies for a mission? You could get your hands on a plane, no problems. I don’t see why GTA 6 could be any different, and that’s the first intersection I could think of when it came to comparing it with Crimson Desert.

In both titles, traversing the massive world you’re let loose in isn’t a matter of spectacle, or the need to add something in just because it’s cool. They’re effective tools to convey scale, and ways to give players a means of transport that would suit their tastes, or perhaps their needs in any given situation. They’re also a way to encourage exploring the world without a plan, letting the thrill of discovery become its own reward aside from useful items and loot that could enhance your character’s abilities.

But a massive world can feel very empty if there wasn’t a lot of meaningful stuff to do in it. Klyff is going to be stretched thin during his time in Pywell if the showcases are any indication. There are Greymanes to track down, old comrades to assist, areas to liberate, rival factions to contend with, activities like fishing and the like, old ruins to explore, and the Abyss and its mysteries to uncover.

Once again, GTA 6 is poised to take a similar approach, letting its players loose in a world where they can choose to do anything they decide to do. Like GTA 5, I’m almost certain that the city we’re set to explore comes with so much to do it can be hard to believe that a duo (or a trio, perhaps?) of characters are capable of tackling it all.

When seen through that lens, it’s easy to see how Pywell can be a suitable placebo for the impatient explorer in me who simply can’t wait to see what shenanigans Lucia and Jason get up to in Leonida. And that brings me to another area of similarity between GTA and Crimson Desert: the inclusion of multiple playable characters.

Experiencing the Greymane Saga

The reveal that Klyff was not the only Greymane I would be playing as in Crimson Desert had me over the moon. I love open worlds that have different people exploring them, the potential for variety and crafting varying builds being a huge draw for me.

GTA 5’s trio of protagonists were so distinct from each other, their personalities often clashing over the course of the story, while switching between them was quite seamless and also fun as you never knew where your character was going to be when you made the switch. Although that title’s combat left little room for variation thanks to the franchise’s more grounded setting, I liked that I could get creative with their loadouts and inject a bit of variance into my experience.

It worked simply because characters were not just different skins of one main protagonist. Crimson Desert might fall flat if its playable characters are too similar to Klyff but that isn’t the case. His companions are already showing off their own unique ways to get across Pywell while their combat abilities seem distinct enough to make them stand out from Klyff quite significantly.

I’m expecting that while their traversal animations might be different, the principles are going to be the same. However, I do think that their combat potential and areas that can only be explored by one or the other are going to be a part of the experience, making them feel distinct and perhaps even making me care about their stories too.

I’m hopeful that the game’s enemy and boss designs reflect their unique skill sets, making a few of them easier to tackle if you choose to take them on as a character other than Klyff. Although the developer has asserted that the main story is going to revolve around Klyff for the most part, I’m still excited to see if the three-pronged approach to its protagonist is going to be handled as well as it was in GTA 5.

GTA 6 already has two playable characters, and is likely going to let you switch between them at will as it wouldn’t make sense not to. It’s another thing that it shares in common with Crimson Desert, and is a factor that’s going to be a part of me enjoying another important facet of both experiences: the combat.

A Fight for Survival

We know that Jason and Lucia are going to have their backs to the wall in GTA 6, which obviously leads to a lot of sticky situations where diplomacy might not be enough to save their hides. But can GTA’s more grounded take on combat involving guns find common ground with Crimson Desert’s fantasy trappings? Yes, as it turns out.

Klyff might not rely on guns and grenade launchers for the most part, although the mech that was showcased recently has me wondering if Pywell is more technologically advanced than it’s letting on. We also know that building Klyff’s arsenal and skill set is going to be a journey on its own, with the freedom to mix and match your abilities to suit your own playstyle.

The two games might be wildly different in the tools you’re given to deal with your opposition, but the underlying principle is a common factor. They’re about starting from scratch and building your characters in a way that makes sense to you. That’s always a joy to behold in games that get it right and Crimson Desert looks like it’s giving you all the tools you need and more to make the most of its combat system.

It’s a great way to scratch the RPG itch that’s already beginning to set in as the days go slowly by until it’s finally time to travel to Leonida in November.

Different Games, Similar Aims

On paper, Crimson Desert and GTA 6 look like wildly different titles among the best of what 2026 has to offer. But look beyond their thematic influences and you see design philosophies that aim to present a very specific type of experience.

While I’m cautiously optimistic about Crimson Desert, I do think it’s a viable stop-gap solution for fans who can’t wait for GTA 6. It might even stand out as a fantasy-themed take on Rockstar’s own gameplay loop if the developer has indeed cooked as well as it seems to have done.

They’re both games that are going to have us pouring hours into them once we set foot into their worlds, after all. I’m excited for both of them, and I can’t wait to take on whatever Pywell has to offer over the course of this year. But for now, I must be content with patiently crossing the days off my calendar until I can join Klyff’s effort to rebuild the Greymanes.

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.

With that being said, there’s always a lesson or two to be learned from adversity, and it’s always good to take a look at where things went wrong and how they can be improved. To that end, we’ve put together a list of events in the gaming world that garnered quite a response from the gaming community, and not in a good way. Let’s dive right in!

1. GTA 6 Delayed To November 2026

We’re sure you saw this one coming and thought it best to get it out of the way early. It’s always a bummer when a highly anticipated title faces a delay, and that becomes a lot worse to bear when that title has been a very long time in the making.

While we’re not going to hold a grudge against Rockstar for this one, as we suspect that the delay is only going to make the final game even better, it still rankles to know that there’s still such a long way to go before we get to dive into what we’re sure is a banger from the studio.

2. Microsoft’s Xbox Hardware Price Hikes

The Xbox hasn’t had a great run in the last few years, and Microsoft certainly didn’t help its case when it hiked the prices on Xbox consoles and a few games in May of last year. While we’re not going to get into the politics that are rumored to be behind the decision, it certainly wasn’t great news for Xbox fans in the market for a new console, with the flagship Series X’s prices going up by around 22% – a significant increase on a console whose popularity has been gradually eroding away.

However, Microsoft might not be entirely to blame for the situation; it was a choice that still didn’t sit well with many, never mind the fact that the PlayStation also saw its prices increase as a response.

3. Price Hikes On PlayStation Hardware In Some Regions

In Europe, the UK, and Australia, Sony hiked prices on the PS5 Digital Edition by around 10%, the reason given being economic turmoil around the world. It’s probably not as bad as the hike on Xbox consoles but is still quite an increase on an already pricey machine despite the excellence it brings to the table.
We’re just glad that the PS5 Pro remained unscathed through it all, and Sony probably deserves a bit of praise for managing to keep things under control for the most part.

4. Game Pass Price Increase

It wasn’t just consoles that saw unpopular price hikes, with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate becoming dearer by quite a significant margin, prompting backlash from existing and potential subscribers. Despite Microsoft issuing a statement saying that such occurrences were “never fun for anybody”, it didn’t help with stopping a string of cancellations as frustrated gamers decided to speak up against the price hikes with their wallets.

We’re just glad we didn’t have to deal with the consequences of the decision, as things certainly got nasty.

5. Sony’s PS Plus Pricing Hike

Sony’s PS Plus wasn’t safe from global economic conditions either, and the service saw price hikes in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Once again, Sony must be commended for restricting the fallout of turbulence in global supply chains, but the price hikes were still quite unpopular among gamers.

It’s interesting to see how Sony managed to keep things in control in comparison with Microsoft, but the price hikes did raise concerns about the value of gaming on consoles versus the same costs on a PC. That’s an interesting facet of this equation that does merit close observation over the next couple of years, and the Steam Machine’s debut might be quite a twist in this tale.

6. AI In Video Games

Generative AI made things quite complicated for a few studios in 2025, with many players and critics calling out its use in video games as a step in the wrong direction. A great example would be ARC Raiders, where lines of NPC dialogue being handled by AI received quite a bit of backlash and review bombing on what was an otherwise solid game. And we suppose there’s no need to mention the controversy surrounding The Alters, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and Fortnite.

7. Call of Duty Black Ops 7

While disappointment with the annual Call of Duty franchise has become something of a recurring tradition, it wasn’t really surprising to see Black Ops 7 fall as flatly as it did. The story, gameplay, and overall presentation failed to gain the momentum needed to stop the franchise’s slump, and the game has been among our worst shooters of 2025 thanks to the likes of ARC Raiders.

Some might be holding out hope that the franchise can turn things around with subsequent instalments though, but that’s looking pretty unlikely now.

8. Mario Kart World’s Hefty Price Tag

Mario Kart World was certainly incredible, and a great title to show off what the Switch 2 could do. But its pricing left a bitter taste in the mouth of those who bought it, and perhaps even put off some players who might have otherwise chosen to dive in.

While an $80 price tag on an excellent game might be palatable to people who want quality, it did raise concerns about a new pricing standard that could isolate quite a few gamers whose budgets might not allow them to pick up great games consistently.

9. Industry Wide Layoffs

There’s a long list of studios that have been shut down, and teams that have faced layoffs over a variety of factors. Studios like Monolith, whose Nemesis System is now probably locked away in a vault somewhere, are great examples of talented teams who were unfortunately let go thanks to a variety of factors.

2025 also saw layoffs across Electronic Arts, Supermassive Games, People Can Fly, Amazon Games, and several others, with thousands of developers ultimately losing their jobs. Here’s hoping that all of the talented folks who were affected it managed to land on their feet.

10. MindsEye

Boy, was this one an annoyance. We went into MindsEye expecting great things from Build A Rocket Boy but were left with a bitter taste in our mouth after its lifeless world, lackluster story, and uninspired combat. This was a game that should have been so much more, and was perhaps the most egregious fail that 2025 brought to the gaming world.

The studio’s response to the criticism aimed at their debut title was also quite lacking, showcasing a poor attitude that did it no favors, and perhaps can act as a lesson to other studios whose offerings fail to get off the ground at the outset.

11. Monster Hunter Wilds PC

This one’s another instance of a disappointing end to a very long wait. With Worlds being as good as it was, Wilds should have been a sequel that took the popular franchise from the developer to new heights. And while the game did manage to put up a good show on consoles, its PC performance left players quite irate with the studio thanks to its poor optimization.

Frame rate issues, poor VRAM optimization, crashes, stutters, and so many more problems ruined what should have been an incredible time hunting monsters in visually stunning environments. This one’s a classic example of a game that should have been more popular right off the bat but was let down thanks to its problems. We’re happy it managed to get back on track though, somewhat.

12. Where Winds Meet’s UI Issues

If you’ve been with us for a while, you already know that Where Winds Meet has been quite a surprise for all of us who got to play it. However, its UI is one area that could certainly use some polish. In fact, we’d go so far as to say that it’s so confusing it runs the risk of making its players miss important parts of its gameplay loop, and needs to do better and communicate all of the myriad systems it contains.

This isn’t a game-breaking problem but it does need to be addressed nonetheless considering the amazing quality of everything else on offer in the experience.

13. Valorant’s Text Verification

Valorant might be among the best esports shooters out there, but that might have worked against the game in this particular instance. With Riot Games aiming to minimize cheating within the game and requiring users to use multi-factor-authentication to be able to play the game, it was obvious that there was going to be a bit of backlash.

With accounts being tied to specific mobile numbers and stringent checks against shady practices, players with multiple accounts who actually played the game without resorting to malpractices were forced to adhere to the new rules. Although necessary, it could still be seen as uncomfortable. We’re all human, after all.

14. Lacking Features At Launch

Several titles released with content that wasn’t available at launch, causing dissatisfaction among players thanks to how crucial they were to their overall enjoyment of the game in question. Borderlands 4’s excellent visuals might have tempted many of its players to take a break and grab some awesome shots of its world, but the lack of a Photo Mode at launch made that an area of frustration.

Ghost of Yotei should have had a New Game+ mode from the very start but that wasn’t the case. Its distinct lack of enemies out in its open world after you finished its story should have been a reason to have the option to get right back into the action but at least it’s there now for those who want it. Several other titles had notable omissions that had us scratching our heads at why they weren’t in the game in the first place.

15. Cancelled Projects

Sony pulled the plug on Bend Studio and Bluepoint Studio’s live-service projects in its pivot towards more profitable (and probably safer) ventures, while Microsoft also cancelled Everwild and Perfect Dark, both of which seemed like solid additions to their respective lineups of titles.

It’s always disappointing to see games with potential be denied the chance to show what they have but it is what it is.

And that’s a wrap on some of 2025’s failures that had gamers shaking their heads at dismal decisions and poor execution of great ideas. Here’s to hoping that 2026 manages to make lists like these a lot shorter!

And now that Grand Theft Auto 6 is actually something that is tangible and at least somewhat within touching distance (or in its vicinity, if nothing else), excitement surrounding its release is hitting highs that we had never seen before for games. And yes, we have obviously had some very clear and obvious proof of that of late. Not long after announcing an unsurprising delay for the open world crime epic from a previously announced Fall 2025 release window to a new launch date of May 26 of next year, Rockstar Games released a new gameplay trailer for GTA 6, which, as the company announced shortly afterward, went on to attract a whopping 475 million plus views across all platforms within a single day, making it a record breaking biggest video launch ever to date, taking the top spot from Deadpool and Wolverine’s debut trailer and putting it at a distant second by quite some ease.

As if all of that hype weren’t enough, Rockstar and parent company Take-Two Interactive are continuing to talk up GTA 6 and what it is aiming for with the kind of confidence that you would frankly expect from a company that has delivered the likes of Grand Theft Auto 5, Grand Theft Auto 4, Red Dead Redemption 2, and many others. Just recently, for instance, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick said in an interview with CNBC while discussing the recently announced delay for Grand Theft Auto 6 that given Rockstar’s lofty ambitions for the open world title, the delay was a decision that made sense.

“The key thing is that Rockstar Games is trying to create the best thing anyone’s ever seen in entertainment, not just interactive entertainment,” Zelnick said. “That’s a tall order, and I think consumers have huge hopes for the title.

“But the delay itself is really a reflection of desire to polish and create the best possible experience for consumers, and we as a company have been known not to have a sort of slavish devotion to release dates but rather to seek the highest quality entertainment.”

That is, of course, a tall order- to say the very least. “The best thing anyone has ever seen in entertainment” isn’t really a standard that you would really ever reasonably hold anything to, but at the same time, it’s also not surprising that the company behind industry-defining and genre-creating masterpieces such as Grand Theft Auto are holding themselves to that standard, at least as far as their public-facing comments are concerned. Sure, that might not be something that many might believe any game – even a new mainline Grand Theft Auto release – could be described as, barring some very rare exceptions, but Rockstar seems like one of chosen few companies out there that could get away with making that a marketing beat for one of their upcoming flagship releases because very few companies over the medium’s history that have managed to have that kind of an impact with their releases.

So the question is, could Grand Theft Auto 6 be that kind of an industry-defining release? As ever, the easiest way to answer that question is to look at the developer in question’s past releases, and make educated guesses based on that. And Rockstar’s track record is, of course, second to none, to the extent that it almost doesn’t even need any briefing. The Grand Theft Auto franchise has never had anything resembling a slip up with its mainline releases, with the likes of Grand Theft Auto 3, 4, 5, Vice City, and San Andreas all having seen widespread and unprecedented success the likes of which you don’t see too often from most other video games. Grand Theft Auto 5’s commercial success in particular continues to be jaw-dropping for even the most hardcore gaming enthusiasts to this day- there’s just no getting used to that sort of commercial longevity for a paid console game.

Outside of GTA, meanwhile, Rockstar has seen similar critical and commercial acclaim with the Red Dead Redemption games. Owing to its period setting, the Wild West franchise obviously hasn’t seen the sort of universal success that something as accessible as Grand Theft Auto obviously enjoys, but Red Dead Redemption is still among the biggest and most successful gaming franchises out there, with both titles so far having been widely regarded as some of the best games ever made, on top of having enjoyed incredible sales figures.

Across Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, time and again, Rockstar has set standards for the genre and the medium as a whole in a way that no other game developer has been able to do, at least on a consistent basis. Outside of those two juggernauts, the company has still managed to win over fans with other games like Bully, Midnight Club, Max Payne 3, and others, each of which has only added to Rockstar Games’ well-earned reputation as one of the best and most prestigious game developers around. All of that is to say, of course, that if there is one company that can have any hopes of being able to deliver the “best thing that anyone has ever seen in entertainment,” the way Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick puts it, as ridiculously high as those ambitions might be, it would have to be Rockstar Games.

That would also be why a delay for Grand Theft Auto 6 ultimately seems not awfully difficult to take (although most definitely there will be some who will vehemently disagree with that sentiment). For many, a delay for GTA 6 was nothing short of an inevitability at any rate, so when Rockstar said that the game would be slipping past its Fall window and instead target a May 2026 release, the announcement didn’t come as a huge shock.

But even beyond its expected nature, the delay announcement was perhaps a relatively easy pill to swallow because of the implicit expectation that Rockstar is going to put the added development time to good use and deliver a product that is likely going to be worth the wait. Of course, there isn’t much that you can take for granted in the games industry, especially when the game in question that you have been waiting for is more than a decade in the making, but based on all that we have seen of Grand Theft Auto 6 so far, it does seem like it’s going to be exactly the spectacular return to Vice City that fans of Rockstar’s open world crime franchise have been dreaming of for so long. Or at least, so we hope.

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.

However, it did so without feeling like it was overplaying its hand. Rockstar has a knack for crafting trailers that feel restrained and manage to hold a lot of information back even with all of the things that they do show, and Grand Theft Auto 6’s trailer felt no different. And though that wouldn’t ordinarily be an issue with the marketing cycle for any other game, knowing how Rockstar operates, it likely won’t be long before the thirst for more info sets in for many. Grand Theft Auto 6’s second trailer arrived well over a year after its reveal trailer did, which is very much part for the course for a Rockstar marketing cycle- just like at how the company handled Red Dead Redemption 2, for instance.

That, of course, means it’s very likely going to be a while before we get the next trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6, especially because, as Rockstar confirmed shortly before the second trailer went live, that the game had been delayed from its previously planned Fall 2025 launch to a May 26, 2026 release. That GTA 6 would likely get delayed was something that many had already made their peace with the moment a Fall 2025 launch window was announced, so the delay didn’t necessarily come as a shock- though it does mean that Rockstar now has more time to deliberately and carefully pick the timing for when it wants to show more of GTA 6… and Rockstar, as we know, is a company that likes to take its time.

And why is that going to be frustrating, other than the plain and simple fact that the wait for Grand Theft Auto 6 is continuing to stretch on even now, twelve years on from its predecessor’s release and seven years after Rockstar’s last major game, Red Dead Redemption 2, came out? Well, perhaps it’s because of the fact that, at this point, a little over a year out from GTA 6’s release, there’s still so much that we just don’t know about the game. With its two official trailers so far, Rockstar has officially confirmed several crucial details – from the game being set in Vice City and its surrounding regions to Lucia and Jason starring as the game’s leading duo in what’s looking like a modern Bonnie and Clyde-inspired story – but in classic Rockstar fashion, the company has kept its cards pretty close to its chest. It has very carefully chosen what to show and what to confirm, and deliberately left out what at this stage feels like a lot.

We do not, for instance, know how the world is structured. Grand Theft Auto 4 and 5 completely reimagined and redesigned their settings of Liberty City and Los Santos respectively, when compared to their past renditions, and GTA 6 is of course doing the same with Vice City and other locales in the state of Leonida. Details on a number of these locations have emerged alongside the game’s second trailer, but there’s much of the world that we haven’t seen even now. What should we expect from the environmental diversity? What kinds of different activities will the world offer up across its many locations? How different (or not) will some of these locations be to what we remember from Vice City’s past iteration?

And that’s not all by any means. We do not, for instance, know much about the leading pair of Lucia and Jason even now. Both trailers for GTA 6 have given us a cursory look into the pair, yes, but much of their backstories and their history together has been left untouched, while we haven’t really seen much more than a few glimpses here and there of the game’s cast of secondary characters either. We also don’t know what to expect from the mission structure and design- is Rockstar going to stick with the story of cinematic, highly scripted missions that it has always been known for, something that it did start drawing some criticism for with Red Dead Redemption 2, or is GTA 6 going to shake things up a little bit?

Beyond that, what are the customization and progression mechanics going to look like? What should we expect from GTA 6’s roster of vehicles and weapons? Will the character switching work the way it did in Grand Theft Auto 5? Will the game continue to play with choice and consequence mechanics the way both Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 did in their own unique ways, and to varying degrees? And of course, above all else, many are still also pondering on the big question- what will GTA 6’s online component be like? Presumably, the game won’t launch with its own version of GTA Online- so when will it arrive, and how will it up the ante on GTA 5’s online component?

All of this isn’t to say that Rockstar hasn’t done well with the two gameplay trailers that it has put out for GTA 6 thus far. On the contrary, both of its trailers have generated massive buzz and excitement, as evidenced by the massive viewership numbers they’ve both touted (the second trailer in particular broke all viewership records for a new video launch, according to Rockstar Games). The frustration comes not from Rockstar not having shown anything exciting, but from the incredible potential that’s on display, which in turn leaves us desperately wanting for more, which we know we’re not going to get for a while because Rockstar is Rockstar and GTA 6 is still a little over a year away.

Our hope is that the next trailer, whenever it arrives, will offer a deeper look at the gameplay, at some of the finer aforementioned mechanics that will comprise the overarching gameplay loop, at Vice City and its surrounding regions, and of course, at the leading duo of Jason and Lucia. Of curse, we’re expecting Rockstar to do things on its own terms, because that it is how it has always done things- and really, at this point, the power of the Rockstar brand and the GTA brand is enough to justify that sort of an approach. While most (if not all) other games and companies would likely require marketing cycles that were significantly less passive to generate the sort of hype and excitement they needed to generate, Grand Theft Auto 6 can do that simply by virtue of existing and being on the horizon- and Rockstar is perfectly aware of that fact. What that means is that it’s likely going to be a while before we see more of GTA 6– but at this point, we can also probably be sure that whenever we do, it’s likely going to be worth the wait.

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.

NEAR-PHOTOREALISTIC VISUALS

Let’s start with the basics- GTA 6 looks absolutely gorgeous, which is what you’d expect from a Rockstar title, to the point where it looks outright photorealistic at some point. For instance, take a look at this specific screenshot and the level of detail that it exhibits to give you an idea of just how visually and technically impressive the game is looking.

DRAW DISTANCES

This is something that Rockstar games tend to excel at more often than not, so it’s no surprise to see GTA 6 touting some of the most impressive draw distances we’ve ever seen. Same as the first trailer, the second trailer boasts plenty of shots where you can see far into the distance with an impressive level of fidelity maintained even for distance things and objects.

CLOUDS

Throughout the new GTA 6 trailer, you can also spot plenty of shots of the skybox, which is looking absolutely gorgeous- again, to no one’s surprise. Specifically, plenty of moments throughout the trailer also showcases gorgeous, dynamically forming volumetric clouds.

LIGHTING

Across the entirety of GTA 6’s trailer 2, you can see countless examples of the game’s gorgeous lighting and the massive jump it is making over past Rockstar titles (which were already gorgeous in and of themselves). At one point, for instance, you can see flashing lights from a cop car dynamically and realistically bouncing off of a nearby wall.

GRASS BLADES

A classic example of Rockstar’s well-known propensity for obsessive attention to detail. At various spots in GTA 6’s newest trailer, you can pause and take a closer look at patches of grass to see that each blade of grass has been individually modelled. It’s not the first time we’ve seen this in a game, but it is still the kind of obsessiveness you don’t see from too many other devs.

HAIR PHYSICS

For whatever reason, hair physics are often the benchmark for how visually and technically impressive a game for many- and GTA 6 is passing every test with flying colours in this area. Throughout the trailer, you can see complex animations for different kinds, lengths, and volumes of hair, all of it looking consistently and remarkable realistic.

ANIMAL FUR

Let’s stick with hair for a little longer- or, more accurately, fur. Specifically, if you pay close attention, you’ll be able to spot animal fur getting wet when it comes in contact with water. It’s not groundbreaking or even unprecedented by any means, but it’s a neat detail nonetheless.

MUSCLE DEFORMATION

One of the more minute details you’ll notice in the new GTA 6 trailer is the realistic muscle deformation that you can spot on Jason. Watch him closely as he moves around and you’ll see his muscles moving and animating through the skin in stunningly realistic fashion.

DRIPPING SWEAT

Similarly, you can also spot droplets of sweat dripping down characters’ faces and bodies at various points throughout the trailer. How much this will tie into things such as weather or, say, how much physical energy a character is exerting remains to be seen, but such as the insane level of detail that Rockstar titles are known for.

CAR MIRRORS

One particularly neat detail fans may not have caught in the trailer is the reflections in wing mirrors on cars. Specifically, the reflections look shockingly realistic, touting impressive dynamics and authenticity.

CAR INTERIORS

GTA 6 might be no Forza Motorsport or Gran Turismo, but we suspect automobile enthusiasts will find plenty of enjoyment in the game’s gorgeous car interiors. Every shot we’ve seen of the inside of a car so far has touted varied and incredible detailed interiors.

DIRTY CARS

Sticking with GTA 6’s cars for a moment longer, another neat detail – but not entirely an unexpected one – to be spotted in the trailer is that you can visibly see cars getting dirty as they drive around. At various points, cars’ bodies clearly have fresh spots or layers of dirt and dust on them.

TRAFFIC

You expect this to be the case in pretty much every new GTA, and sure enough, Grand Theft Auto 6 is seemingly touting heavily improved traffic density. It was abundantly evident in the first trailer, and is once again in trailer 2, which shows plenty of shots of impressively dense traffic, both in terms of on-foot NPCs milling around and vehicles on the road.

SAND DEFORMATION

You’ll see plenty of beaches throughout your time in Vice City and surrounding regions in the state of Leonida in Grand Theft Auto 6– which means you’ll also be seeing plenty of sand. And the sand, in a word, looks excellent. Sand deformation is what is most impressive here, as you can see in a couple of shots in the game’s newest trailer.

WATER PHYSICS

Just as impressive as the sand deformation are the water physics in the trailer. There’s obviously plenty of water to see in your surroundings in Vice City, and we see plenty of it in the trailer as well. From how gorgeous it looks and how authentically it animates and moves to how it reacts to vehicles moving through and how it dynamically reflects light, GTA 6’s water visuals are looking quite impressive.

MARINE LIFE

Credit: Reddit User khush_7x

Speaking of realistic water, we’ve also seen glimpses of some of GTA 6’s underwater visuals, and they’re looking quite impressive. You can, for instance, spot surprisingly varied and authentic looking marine life at one point. We fully expect to be able to zone out and just keep staring at GTA 6’s underwater environments.

PHONE SCREEN

To give you an idea of the ridiculous level of attention detail Rockstar is pouring into Grand Theft Auto 6, at specific points in the trailer, you can really zoom in on phones in the background to even be able to spot faint hints of the time and app icons being displayed on the screen.

GTA 5 REFERENCE

Credit: Reddit User: Sleep_Holiday

GTA 6’s newest trailer shows co-protagonist Lucia exiting a prison at a specific point, and interestingly enough, the t-shirt she’s wearing in that scene is a GTA 5 reference. Pause and zoom in a little and you’ll clearly spot faded print on the shirt for the rollercoaster named Leviathan found on Del Perro Pier in GTA 5’s Los Santos.

FLIP FLOPS

One shot in GTA 6’s newest trailer showcases an NPC riding a bike, and doing so while wearing flip flops. Interestingly, if you look close, you’ll see the flip flops animating separately and realistically as the NPC pedals the bike.

HOMAGE TO VICE CITY

Rockstar Games appears to be leaning heavily into nostalgia with GTA 6, as there are striking visual homages to the original Vice City cast. Characters bearing a strong resemblance to icons like Tommy Vercetti, Lance Vance, and Ricardo Diaz have been spotted in the trailers, with their outfits, postures, and overall vibes seemingly crafted as deliberate nods to the 2002 classic.

COINS

Moving on from cash bills to coin- because there’s something to note here as well. A specific shot in GTA 6 shows a close up of sorts of a cash register being opened, inside which you can see individually modelled coins, sporting different sizes and variations.

MORE CASH DETAILS

Also in that same scene, alongside coins, you can of course also spot plenty of cash bills in the register, and impressively enough, the bills have different shades of colours to indicate usage and wear and tear.

EXPLOSIONS

We all love a good looking exploring, and Rockstar’s games have usually tried their best to deliver the most explosive and best looking explosions they possible can with the technology and hardware on their hands. Grand Theft Auto 6 seems to be continuing that trend. Unsurprisingly for GTA, the newest trailer has explosions to show off, and they look utterly stunning- which may not come as a surprise, but is impressive to look at nonetheless.

GUN MODELS

There’s a surprisingly big jump in GTA 6’s quality of weapon models. Compared to GTA 5, which is of course more than a decade old at this point, Grand Theft Auto 6’s weapons and guns bear a much greater level of minute detail that fans will appreciate.

COIN ANIMATIONS

Credit: Reddit user: MobileAerie9918

Rockstar’s commitment to immersion shines through in even the smallest interactions, and the animated coins inside the cash register during a robbery in GTA 6 is a perfect example. It’s not just eye candy, it’s a subtle touch that elevates the entire experience, making the world feel more reactive, alive, and meticulously crafted.

Games are meant to be played and it’s in this area where GTA 6 shows tremendous potential to outdo RDR 2. Everyone knows how remarkably realistic and sim-like RDR 2 is, but that severe attention to detail occasionally resulted in fussy and irritating gameplay. Arthur Morgan feels weighty, and at times, unwieldy to control. Accenting the basic control weightiness is the laundry list of animations you must wait to finish before moving on from a basic action.

Yes, a lot of these luxurious animations are tied to optional content like fishing to an extent, but core mechanics like upgrading equipment and looting are a lengthy process that must be patiently endured before moving on. By contrast, GTA 5 feels snappy and immediate with its character control. While there are animations tied to many actions, they’re much shorter in GTA 5 than in RDR 2. It’s a genuine possibility that Rockstar could give GTA 6 the painstaking RDR 2 animation treatment regarding actions but based on past GTA games and its identity as a more arcade style gameplay experience, it’s unlikely GTA 6 will go the route of RDR 2.  Further, GTA 5 is generally regarded as the best Rockstar game from a gunplay standpoint. By comparison, RDR 2 guns feel less immediate thanks to the realistic depiction of how firearms operated in 1899. Many fans prefer the ultra-realistic approach of RDR 2, but in terms of basic gameplay fun, GTA 6 will likely surpass it by a wide margin.

While we’re on the topic of pure fun factor, it’s hard to top GTA’s vehicles. The driving mechanics and vehicle variety is so good in GTA 5 that it’s generally considered a driving game in its own right, even among racing enthusiasts. Now, it’s true that GTA 5’s car handling is more arcady and forgiving than GTA 4’s, but the loose floatiness of GTA 4‘s cars thankfully got replaced by stiffer suspension and an emphasis on grip in GTA 5. And then there’s the boatload of driving upgrades and mods, which further enhance handling to fit your preference. GTA vehicles also feel distinct from one another. Each car has a bespoke exhaust note, different handling characteristics and stats, and a unique cockpit perspective to enjoy. Red Dead Redemption 2 takes place in the Wild West during the turn of the 20th Century, so transportation is understandably much slower. Many joke that 70% of any Rockstar game is driving vehicles or riding horses and there’s a grain of truth to such a sentiment.

RDR 2’s horses are realistically portrayed. Almost everyone who’s played RDR 2 knows the dreaded sensation of seeing their mount falling off the edge of a cliff due to an unwieldy horse or imprecise input response. The horse bond system is immersive and fun, but even at full bond rank, you can’t control horses with absolute precision like with GTA 5’s cars; horses are living creatures after all, and they react with a mind of their own. Travelling across GTA 6’s map is almost certainly going to be more exciting and variable than the traversal within RDR 2. We’ve already seen dozens of familiar vehicles in the GTA 6 trailer and cannot wait to see the full roster of cars, boats, and planes when the game releases in 2025.

Vehicles aren’t the only modernized aspect that GTA can take advantage of, though. The current-day time period gives Rockstar a tremendous degree of creative freedom within every facet of GTA 6. Take social media as an example; the GTA 6 trailer showcases a bunch of crazy events broadcasting on the smartphones of numerous characters. This could be a groundbreaking feature akin to the character swapping that GTA 5 experimented with. Imagine your antics in Vice City being broadcast through in-game news feeds and social media posts. Even if it’s just relegated to story stuff, the potential for a social media mechanic allows for greater immersion into the world and allows for a fun way to receive exposition. But the presence of internet and social media is only the tip of the iceberg of what’s possible in GTA 6’s modern setting. By comparison, RDR 2’s portrayal of a 1899 wild west drama is deliciously antiquated, serving as a grounded and much more predictable setting. This difference in time period and setting is largely preferential, but there’s no denying the greater creative freedom that GTA 6 will likely enjoy compared to the historically rich setting of RDR 2 that we all love.

One area of RDR 2 that will be particularly hard to top is story. Rockstar has always excelled in writing compelling characters, yet RDR 2 goes above and beyond their usual standards. The scripting, acting performances, and character development is Oscar-winning stuff. As a villain, Dutch has a good side to him that can be sympathized with, especially considering Arthur’s close relationship to him throughout the game. RDR 2‘s voice acting and music direction is still some of the best in all of gaming. Can GTA 6 deliver a story that rivals or even exceeds RDR 2: it’s possible, but it’ll take a heck of a lot to achieve.

The protagonist dynamic has strong story potential to impress. Limiting the main cast to just two protagonists invite a more intimate dynamic and character involvement than GTA 5‘s rotating cast. The protagonists may have more depth to them than we realize. Will they initially meet each other on opposite ends of the law? I can already theorize some heart-wrenching plot twists in the narrative like the two getting separated or one of them having to sacrifice the other in the game’s climax. GTA 6 has some real potential to rival RDR 2’s story, but it’ll take everything Rockstar has to pull it off.

That said, GTA 6 will almost certainly surpass RDR 2 in sales and general popularity. Grand Theft Auto holds a massive IP presence to the point where people without a single gaming bone in their body know the name. GTA 5 was the fastest-selling entertainment product when it released, making $1 billion in the first three days. RDR 2 sold remarkably well too, falling just short of GTA 5’s record-breaking numbers with $750 million in the first week. Whether or not the setting or realism is better is largely up to individual taste, but there’s no denying that GTA 6 is set to break all kinds of records just like its predecessor did in 2013.

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.

GTA Online Updates Will Stop Because GTA 6, Red Dead Redemption 2

One of the stranger rumors that circulated before Red Dead Redemption 2’s release was about how updates for GTA Online would be slowing down. Yan 2295, who also leaked a remaster for LA Noire being in the works, reported in January 2017 that updates for the online mode would stop by the time that RDR2 released. Not because of Red Dead Online potentially replacing it but because, “Some people are helping San Diego with RDR2, some people started working on the next GTA, and some people are working on another game,” as per the leaker. “So you’re left with only a few people to work on GTA Online. You can’t have updates as big as we had in the past when you have 4x less devs working on GTA Online, that’s just impossible.” Which is funny because numerous big updates continue to be released for Grand Theft Auto Online, the latest being Los Santos Tuners which attracted more players than any previous update, and it remains a key focus for the company.

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 a 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 a 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.

Creating believable NPCs for open-world games has been a slow climb for developers, and noticeable results of that climb are few and far between, again, mostly because it’s the ones that fail to fade into the background that end up being noticed, but they have come a long way over the last ten years or so, and the calibration of non-playable characters for video games has gotten more complex over the years. Knowing all of that, it should be of surprise to no one that NPC behavior has been getting some more attention on the back-end from developers. Most notably from some of the developers that really need it the most, like Rockstar.

Back in April of 2019, Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two Interactive filed a patent for a new NPC system that primarily focuses on handling NPC movement, routing, and general behavior. The new system is called “System And Method For Virtual Navigation In A Gaming Environment” which might not be the most flashy name ever given to a system of codes, but still nonetheless promises to bring a lot to the table in terms of upgrading what we can expect from NPCs in future Rockstar games. The new system was headed up by Rockstar’s Simon Parr, and David Hynd – two of the higher-ups over at the technical side of Rockstar, and given the pedigree behind the patent it makes sense with how fundamentally monumental it really is. One of the bigger elements of this will be impacting how vehicles behave, which makes sense as a car or boat behaving weirdly is far more noticeable than a random person on the sidewalk somewhere, so it’s easy to understand why vehicles were given such a priority here.

Boats, cars, busses, and other sorts of crafts will be able to, within this system, not just understand where they are going and how fast they’re getting there, but will also have advanced knowledge of how fast to approach certain turns, how long it might take to slow down for a red light, and the ability to judge their own acceleration. All of this alone will result in far more realistic traffic behavior in all areas. Cars slowing down gradually, using logic to turn corners in safe, realistic ways, and just generally having more of a grasp of their vehicle-type what its limitations are, much like you do when you take over a vehicle in Grand Theft Auto 5. The implications of this are pretty vast, as you could also apply this to pedestrian NPCs and it could help them slow down when getting close to another object or person and adjusting their walking or running speed accordingly to whatever they’re doing, whether it be running from a giant explosion or walking across a busy street. If it sounds like it’s subtle, well, that’s because it kind of is. But as we touched on earlier, the entire field of NPC creation is a subtle one to begin with. Great advancements and achievements are rarely pointed out, but rather just serve as a way to lift up the entirety of the experience and add to it’s authenticity. The best-designed NPCs are the ones that you don’t even really think about.

The patent didn’t stop there though. It also mentioned something of a much grander scale. One part of the description of the patent specifically mentioned “virtual navigation and management of objects in a multiplayer network gaming community.” And again, the implications do give the mind a lot to ponder here. Is this referring to online experiences?  Seems like it. And if that’s the case does that mean that the next big Rockstar game is going to be multiplayer-focused? I don’t want to make too many assumptions but it’s hard to not draw a straight line from point A to point B on that one. And when you consider how successful Grand Theft Auto 5’s online mode has been, coupled with the fact that we all know Grand Theft Auto 6 is definitely on the way, we could very well be in for Rockstar’s most robust online mode of all time in Grand Theft Auto 6 or whatever their next game is.

There is even more credence added to this theory with the fact that this entire system is purportedly meant to operate through a network connection. game developers have long been looking for ways to supersede the limitations of whatever hardware their game is on. Whether that be through visual tricks like baked in shadows or 2-dimensional objects made to look 3D, or other sneaky means to make games look and act better than you would think that console could allow. It appears the days of visual tricks might be over though if this patent turns out to be as revolutionary as it’s clearly aiming to be. With all of this technology going over a network connection, the relative power of your PlayStation 4, 5, Xbox One, or Series X won’t really matter. All that will really matter is the reliability of your internet connection whatever it is. We still don’t really know if it requires some sort of huge download upload speed, but odds are it’s probably something fairly generous, so the biggest thing to worry about is whether or not the game that includes this system will require an always-online connection to use, and if the system turns out the way this patent seems to imply, that will probably be the case.

So this could basically mean one of two things: either the next big Rockstar game with this NPC system will be an online focused experience, or it will be a regular game with an offline campaign that still requires an internet connection to use this NPC system. So regardless of how revolutionary this new system for NPC navigation is, I think Rockstar needs to tread lightly into this territory. While more and more people are ready for online connectivity, there are still plenty who are not, and still yet plenty of those who are but still don’t like the idea of connectivity for a variety of other reasons. If there isn’t a way to take advantage of this system offline, then it’s going to require an incentive to get people to buy the game that uses it at the numbers Rockstar is used to. With how subtle the advances in NPC development tend to be, it could very well be a nice piece of technology that doesn’t really get its point across if it’s not handled exactly right in terms of its implementation.

Grand Theft Auto 5 has enjoyed far greater success than anyone could have predicted when it launched, even for a GTA game, and GTA Online has been hugely responsible for that continued, enduring success. Of course, that’s come at the cost of something, with Rockstar having not only taken their sweet time to getting to the next mainline game in the series, but also having roundly ignored post-launch single player expansions, contrary to what happened with GTA 4.

If Rockstar North’s director of design Tarek Hamad’s words are anything to go by though, that’s not necessarily indicative of what the future holds for the company. Speaking with GQ, Hamad says that Rockstar “absolutely” intends to keep making single player stories for players to experience.

In fact, some of it might even drop in GTA Online itself, similar to the recent Heist update, which delivers a blend of solo and multiplayer content. “I think you can see that with Online and I think going forward we’re going to inject more of that single-player element in there,” said design director Scott Butchard.

GTA Online, of course, shows no signs of stopping down. GTA 5 is releasing on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2021, and when it does, it will arrive with new, exclusive content.

Meanwhile, reports have also claimed that Grand Theft Auto 6 is in development, and that it will allegedly launch as a relatively medium-scale game, with Rockstar intending to add to it with post-launch updates.