GTA 6 (Grand Theft Auto VI) is the next chapter of the colossal GTA Series. The game has been confirmed to be in development by Rockstar Games
, and has suffered a major leak on September 18, 2022.
Even though there is no official information about it yet, we can take a few calculated guesses based on what we know so far.
It has now been 9 long years since Grand Theft Auto V has been released, the longest we ever had to wait between Grand Theft Auto games.
So obviously there is an ever-increasing interest online about a possible GTA 6 release date, as well as any kind of GTA 6 news, leaks, and rumors. Here's our complete analysis of the hints we were able to catch so far.
If you don’t have the time to read the whole thing (though we advise that you do because we’ve analyzed ALL the GTA 6 news and GTA 6 leaks below), here’s the summary of our findings:
Yes, we are impatient just like you, and we’re all wondering “when does GTA 6 come out” and when is the GTA 6 release date?
When it comes to the GTA 6 release date, Rockstar Games have not confirmed anything so far, and it seems the game is not expected to release soon.
Here’s the latest information we’ve compiled for all of you wondering:
While rumors were suggesting that GTA 6 would be released as soon as 2022-2023, newer information suggests that it will not be coming out until 2024-2025, and for a few good reasons.
Tom Henderson, a tipster known for a good track record with Battlefield and Warzone leaks, had to say something about what year GTA 6 is coming out in a recent GTA 6 video.
So, before we dive into some more questionable claims about the game, we’re going to take a look at one of the most trusted sources out there at the moment.
While he does state several times that he isn’t known for GTA6 leaks specifically and that we should take everything he says with a grain of salt, his sources have always proved to be more than credible so far.
His predictions about the GTA 6 release date are set somewhere around 2024 or 2025, one of the main reasons being that there are a lot of shortages with the new generation of consoles. Rockstar obviously wants to release GTA 6 when there is a big enough market for the PS5 & Xbox Series X/S platforms.
Other reasons include the employee's well-being and Rockstar not wanting to set a release date unless they are 100% sure they can meet the deadline. All of this makes sense, as Rockstar has been bringing changes to its approach to the development process.
More specifically, they came out with concerns about the strain and stress that comes with crunches and overtime - which are both very common in today’s industry. Such stressful periods were present during the development of Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA 5.
Also, we had a glance at Take Two’s (Rockstar Games Parent company’s) annual 10-K forms to investigate further.
We learned that they plan to invest approximately $89 million into marketing between April of 2023 and March of 2024. This kind of a spike was also present when Red Dead Redemption 2 was being marketed and prepared for release.
So, while no specific games are mentioned anywhere, we can see how all of this lines up with the presumed 2024/2025 GTA 6 release date.
Bottom line - Rockstar Games hasn’t come out with any specific information, such as a GTA 6 trailer release date or anything. In fact, it’s the very silence that makes it even more interesting to look into. There was only a small tease that Rockstar made about GTA 6, as part of the trailer for the recent GTA Online Cayo Perico update.
However, as we'll see in this article, the development of Grand Theft Auto 6 is already well underway.
It’s not yet possible to pre-order GTA 6, but considering the hype, we can predict that the GTA 6 pre-order amount is certainly going to be huge.
Here’s what we know so far on GTA VI and the platforms it will come out for:
GTA 6 will be released for the next generation of consoles, Sony's PlayStation 5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X/S. There's a good chance we will see a version of the game for Windows PC and Google Stadia too.
Unfortunately for people that won't get a next-gen console, Rockstar Games will not be launching GTA6 on PS4 and Xbox One. The next GTA game will be next-gen hardware exclusive.
What about the GTA 6 PC version, then?
Well, with GTA 4, GTA 5, and even Red Dead Redemption 2, there weren’t simultaneous launches for the PC along with the consoles. But they did come after a certain time.
While the delays surely frustrated a lot of PC users, it was worth the wait as the developers had more time to optimize the games for the PC platform and polish everything even further.
So, while we might expect a GTA 6 PS5 exclusive launch at first, along with Xbox Series X/S - also a PC version is sure to follow. Rockstar is smart enough to know not to keep this kind of a title limited to consoles only.
When is GTA VI going to be released on PC and next-gen consoles actually has a lot to do with the GTA 6 release date itself. The PS5 and Xbox Series X/S currently aren’t widespread, meaning there isn’t really a market or a large player base to appeal to… yet.
If you're familiar with previous Rockstar games, you know that the GTA 6 map will be massively large. Beautiful, ultra-dense, and full of places to explore.
Early rumors suggested that the GTA 6 location could be set around Miami (in another rendition of Vice City), with a second location for additional missions being in South America.
Then, a coded message hinted at the locations possibly being all Los Santos, Vice City, and Liberty City.
But there’s much more to it, and there’s some new info that has arisen and that could be more reliable.
With the GTA 6 early footage that has been leaked on September 18, 2022, it has been confirmed that GTA 6 will take place in a modern-day rendition of Vice City.
Obviously, no one would have a problem with visiting the iconic Miami-inspired Vice City again, with all the additions and novelties that new technology can use to bring it to life even further.
There’s even a mix of information regarding the state of GTA 6 Vice City. To put it more precisely:
On one hand, GTA 6 rumors are saying that we’ll be seeing a new and modernized version of it, while on the other hand there were talks of the game being set in the 70s and 80s.
Henderson predicts that Grand Theft Auto VI will feature a modern-day Vice City, with modern technological elements such as cryptocurrency.
The main reason for this is GTA Online: considering how GTA Online developed and grew using a modern setting, putting the game in a historic era would strip away a lot of what makes GTA Online what it is and would actually be detrimental to it.
Now, here’s where things get slightly more heated. While a revamped version of Vice City on its own might be enough to make players go crazy, Rockstar apparently intends to bring even more to the table. A lot more.
Aside from the rumors about Vice City, we have also run into information that speaks of a second GTA 6 city that’s located in South America - a city based on Rio de Janeiro.
Rockstar also stated in an interview that they would like to eventually have a GTA with all the previous locations in one game (Liberty City, Los Santos, Vice City, etc.), so this is something that we could look forward to in the future.
What we know for sure is that Rockstar Games has made changes within their development culture and to their approach to launching games.
In order to avoid terrible crunch crises, last-minute changes, employee overwork, burn-out and such, Rockstar has decided to change their approach from a huge first-day launch, with a gigantic map and everything, to a post-launch oriented method.
This means that we’ll be seeing a smaller launch upon initial release, followed by many expansions that will add more locations and events to the game as time goes on.
This is partly due to Rockstar paying attention to their employees’ wellbeing, but it’s also useful from a strategic perspective.
Firstly, this change of development culture received positive reactions from the employees. Some staff members who went through crunch periods on earlier games took this change very well and decided to continue working for Rockstar because of it.
Another reason why this might be a positive change is that it will allow Rockstar to plan out its content more carefully. Since there’s no rush to finish a whole game by a certain date, they can focus on individual expansions and locations well after the initial launch and give them proper polishing.
In his GTA 6 video posted on the 27th of June, Tom Henderson confirmed some things we’ve already encountered in some other places online.
More specifically, he said that Rockstar has indeed made changes to their development culture and that we will be seeing a smaller initial launch, followed by several seasonal updates.
These updates will affect how the default map looks every time a new DLC is released and will bring in new locations for the players to explore.
Henderson compares this map overhaul to Fortnite, for example, with a giant meteor crashing into the island and changing its layout during the update. In fact, they have performed map overhauls during seasonal changes.
For some readers, however, the change of development might come as a concern.
If this seasonal update approach really ends up sticking to the Fortnite/Warzone format, it might also mean that Grand Theft Auto 6 will also implement systems like the Battle Pass - and it’s a huge question as to how players would react to it.
Still, at this point all anyone can do is guess.
There isn’t a shortage of alleged GTA 6 leaked map material and possible clues online. The newest information regarding a GTA VI map has emerged from a leaked 15-second video.
The video shows a somewhat substantial map showing lots of locations and activities, with the main setting of GTA 6 being Vice City and the state of Florida. It is one of the most credible leaks we have so far.
The reason for this claim is that it coincides with information posted on 4Chan some time ago, mentioning names of a few locations - that can also be seen in the video.
We have 2 Reddit users to thank for recreating a high-resolution version of the map in question, and one GTAForums user - nicktestbranch - for initially stitching the map from the video together:
Reddit user u/ColonelPuffin took the above image and tried to restore it, making a higher-quality recreation of what we can see in the GTA6 leaked map video:
After this image was posted, u/StickiLizardStudiosYT went out and layered the GTA 5 map over the new, leaked one, to compare the GTA 6 Map with GTA 5.
What leads us to further connect these leaks to GTA 6 Vice City, apart from the already mentioned clues, is that a lot of cities and locations shown on the new GTA 6 map are apparently based on different Florida locations.
Locations like the Vice Gardens shown on the eastern side of the map, Tortona Beach way up north, and Quincy World might be in-game counterparts to the Miami Gardens, Daytona Beach, and, of course, Disney World (Fred Quincy being the GTA equivalent of Walt Disney).
The tongue-in-cheek location names shown on the map are just the type of real-world recreation that Rockstar has been known for (think: Los Santos/Los Angeles, Las Venturas/Las Vegas, Liberty City/New York, etc.).
As for the GTA VI activities, the leak shows that there are possibilities of things like restaurants, plastic surgeons, gyms, smoke shops, bowling alleys, basketball courts, and so on.
The mentioning of gyms leads us to assume that a muscle/fat factor, like the one in GTA San Andreas, might be making a comeback as a feature in the new installment.
But of course, this could also be a very well-fabricated fan leak, so we should be careful not to completely buy into the story so far.
Some fans have expressed their disbelief about the latest leak, calling it a possible GTA V mod and drawing attention to the shaky camera motion throughout the video. The person filming it might have faked a moment of panic to make it seem more genuine.
Even though there’s no solid evidence that Rockstar will go for this approach, having a Map that includes all previous cities from GTA games would truly be a dream.
Fans have already made several custom maps that combine all known GTA locations into a single map, simulating an entire world of interconnected cities we’re familiar with (Liberty City, Los Santos, Vice City, etc.).
Below you can see the Fan-made GTA 6 Map that we liked the most, which includes all the cities and locations in the Grand Theft Auto series:
Unofficial/Fan-made Map
Rockstar previously stated in an interview that they would like to include all previous cities in one GTA game, so this map might be a real possibility somewhere down the road.
Here is all the information we have about the GTA 6 characters for all of you wondering:
For GTA 6, Rockstar Games decided to continue the trend of multiple playable characters that started with Grand Theft Auto V.
It has been leaked that in GTA 6 there are two main protagonists: a male called Jason, and for the first time in the series, a female called Lucia. Their last names are currently not known.
Lucia, the female Latina protagonist, is the first playable woman in modern Rockstar history'. She will be one of two leading characters present in a story that is influenced much by the Great Depression-era bank-robbing couple, Bonnie and Clyde.
Like GTA V, GTA 6 will feature a character switch mechanic that you can use at any time by pressing "Down" on the d-pad.
One rumor suggests that Grand Theft Auto 6 would actually have four playable characters! Out of these four, two would-be gangsters (aka, what we’re used to from a GTA protagonist), but the other two would be cops (inspired by a lot of GTA Online players roleplaying as cops and bringing in a new approach).
These rumors came with a lot of other information, not just about GTA 6 characters, and we will shortly discuss them below.
One thing to note - the links to these sources aren’t of much use anymore. A Reddit post made by JackOLantern1982 in 2019 has been deleted, and the Fireden link is simply non-functional at the moment.
Luckily, we’ve managed to get a summary of all of these.
Previous to the GTA 6 Map Leak above, there were 2 threads on 4Chan where users spoke of certain GTA 6 map locations (White Water, Daytona Beach, Florida Keys, etc.) and activities (like the plastic surgeon one) as well as clues to the game’s storyline, which line up with the subsequent GTA VI leaked map.
They also ended up talking about some aspects of the game, which tie in nicely with what we know from the latest information about the modern-day setting.
Namely, there are supposed to be the equivalents of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in the game which the GTA 6 protagonists will work for. In fact, the environment will eventually change depending on who the player decides to side with.
The users stated the following: there is an ongoing feud between said Musk and Bezos characters over a government-owned launchpad (or space station). This point of interest is crucial for their respective space companies.
If you ask us, this is a bit over the top, but the following part could be true:
At the start of the game, players will choose between a male and a female character. The male character will start in the South American city and the female will start in the Florida-based city (aka Vice City).
After several missions, these GTA 6 characters would cross each other's paths, and then the game would switch over to the other character, giving the player access to the entire map.
Here’s the rundown on what this deleted Reddit post said, which mentioned that GTA VI codename would be Project Americas.
The setting of Project Americas coincides with the rumors about a northern and southern American location. Namely, it would be set in Vice City and one other location, based on Rio de Janeiro.
Apparently, this installment has been in development ever since 2012, but due to Red Dead Redemption 2 having a higher priority at the time, the production only picked up pace in 2015.
Now, apart from these 2 locations, the game would also feature some linear missions set in Liberty City, meaning there wouldn’t be an option to freely explore it. A similar thing was seen in GTA 5 with missions in Ludendorff.
The game would be set in the 70s and 80s and would feature one male GTA 6 protagonist mentioned earlier - Ricardo.
Ricardo was apparently set to start in the lower ranks of the drug cartel, making his way up the ladder and working as a cocaine smuggler between Vice City and the new South American city.
One of Ricardo’s employers was rumored to be the famous Mandrazo family - featuring the young Martin Madrazo and his father, who was a notorious drug lord at the time. Another main GTA 6 character that was mentioned was a person called Kacey.
There were a lot of GTA 6 rumors that the developers were heavily inspired by the Netflix show Narcos, wanting to bring that sort of narrative and detailed story to the game, with a lot of dialogue (almost a TV series amount of it), a rich soundtrack and everything.
Since there was talk of the game being set in both the 70s and 80s, it was suggested that there might be a time-skip at a certain point in the story. This change would impact the game in a lot of ways.
For example, GTA 6 cars, car prices, buildings, and even the soundtrack would shift along with the times. Creating a complex, living economy was apparently something that Rockstar really wanted to develop in this installment.
The last 2 key details regarding drug empires and a complex economy tie in nicely to the next alleged aspect of the game - building a drug empire. This mechanic would apparently be similar to what we’ve seen in GTA Online or Vice City Stories to an extent, but way bigger.
An interesting change in gameplay would come from the fact that the player wouldn’t be able to carry a dozen weapons and armor with them at all times - switching between them on the fly - but would rather only be able to switch between weapons they can carry on their person (for example, a primary rifle and a secondary pistol is our guess).
The rumors that were seen on Fireden stated that the GTA 6 setting would actually be in Liberty City.
While we can almost certainly cross out the idea that Liberty City would be the main focus of the game, there are 2 other claims that make more sense with what we know so far.
One of these claims is that GTA VI would feature 4 main characters - 2 of which would be gang members while the other 2 would be police officers. The other claim also lines up nicely with the possible time-skip idea.
Namely, there would be a split in the storyline.
The criminals’ side of the game would be sandbox-styled and based on building a drug empire. On the other side, when playing as the police, the game would turn to a more action-oriented style, with some elements of LA Noire.
GTA Online is one of Rockstar’s most profitable titles, if not the most profitable one.
Given all the possibilities of the single-player game, we can only imagine to what extent the GTA Online experience will be pushed in the next release.
It’s quite possible that GTA VI will function as a pathway to GTA Online’s “rebirth” for next-gen consoles.
What the future holds for GTA Online and the multiplayer aspect of GTA 6 is still up in the air: what will happen to GTA Online when Grand Theft Auto 6 comes out?
Rockstar essentially considers GTA Online its own game, despite requiring Grand Theft Auto V to be played. To this day, Rockstar is still adding new GTA Online Vehicles and customization features. And with the enormous success that GTA Online proved to be, there is no doubt that we will see it continue in some shape or form as part of Grand Theft Auto VI.
Will the current iteration of GTA Online carry over into GTA VI, or will players have to start anew? And if so, how will the new multiplayer experience be called? Simply "GTA 6 Online", "GTA Online 2", or something else entirely?
There is a chance that the GTA 6 version of GTA Online could become an expanded world that also includes GTA 5’s San Andreas and GTA 4’s Liberty City along with the GTA 6 Locations.
Recent news of GTA Online coming out for the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2021 as a Standalone Version gave way to new speculations about the next installment.
For now, all these questions remain unanswered, but we hope more details about both the online and single-player portions of Grand Theft Auto VI are revealed soon.
For all of you wondering if the Online aspect of GTA 6 will be cross-platform, this information is still unknown at the moment.
There is definitely a possibility that the new version of GTA Online will allow for cross-platform play between PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, as it's become a common trend in modern video games.
It would be awesome to see players from all platforms united under one roof, as long as Rockstar can keep the game under control from GTA 6 mods on PC.
To round up the story, let’s take a look at a few last pieces of information that can give us insight as to what we can expect from Rockstar Games.
Firstly, we have a good lead on AI developments in Rockstar’s games.
Take-Two Interactive - Rockstar’s parent company - came out with a patent titled “System and Method for Virtual Navigation in a Gaming Environment”.
In it, they speak about certain limitations in current AI technology, while stating that they aim to improve NPC (Non-Player Character) behavior.
They intend to make the game world even more lively, with NPCs having more complex patterns of action while going about their day. For example, slowing down while driving when the sun sets if they’re not confident in their driving abilities.
"A node-based vehicle in conventional video games may make arbitrary decisions at junctions (wandering behavior). These node-based vehicles may not consider certain factors--such as traffic--when determining navigation. For example, some systems rely on low-level vehicle avoidance to only have NPCs avoid vehicles and objects directly around them. This cannot account for changing lanes when parking cars, anticipating a road exit, weather conditions, and the like."
The patent is unreadable for the laymen for the most part, as it’s filled with technical jargon and speaks about complex AI mechanics, but we’ve singled out some parts that make sense.
Keep in mind, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the patent was designed specifically for Grand Theft Auto 6, although it’s pretty safe to assume that it will affect its development. Here’s another excerpt from the patent:
"These NPCs can be programmed in an artificial intelligence manner such that their actions in the game are driven, at least in part, by real-time decisions made by the NPC algorithm regarding the current state of the game and the environment."
To summarize - methods of manipulating NPCs and simulating a virtual world have their limits, especially regarding driving patterns. With this new technology, the simulated worlds could bring a new level of immersion for the players and improve known bugs that NPCs make while moving around.
Most importantly, we could have a better GTA 6 cars and environment experience than ever! And we can surely expect the GTA 6 graphics to be incredible and bring our favorite game to the next level.
In the end, as Leslie Benzies, the former president of Rockstar North said, their only limitations are the memory and the size of the disc, because they could simulate anything in the world.
A: Yes, there will be a new installment of Grand Theft Auto. We still don’t know when exactly will GTA 6 come out, but some estimations claim that we can expect it around 2024 or 2025. It is still early in development, and Rockstar Games have made some changes to their approach to making games.
A: Yes, Rockstar Games announced in February 2022 that GTA 6's development is "well underway". The only thing left is to wait for the Rockstar Games GTA 6 release date and more info on the game! We are as excited as you are, and we’ll update you on the GTA 6 logo and GTA 6 cover instantly when Rockstar announces them.
A: Yes, GTA 6 is well under development! So, many people wondering “is GTA 6 in development” should rest assured that the next installment is on the way. In fact, Rockstar has made Grand Theft Auto 6 their main priority. However, we still don’t know the GTA 6 release date, and there may be a chance that it will be released sometime in 2024 or 2025. Rockstar is taking their time with this title so that everything comes out as polished as possible.
A: No, there isn’t an official GTA 6 official trailer or GTA 6 gameplay at this time. Every other GTA 6 video or trailer you see online at the moment is either fake or fan-made. We can only assume that a GTA 6 trailer or teaser will be shown within the next year or two, maybe during an E3 conference.
A: While we can’t say for sure which GTA 6 cars will be featured, we might have a clue about some of them. Namely, since there’s a rumor about an Elon Musk equivalent character that will appear in the game, there will most probably be cars similar to Tesla but with a different name due to copyright laws (and Rockstar’s creative ways of going around them).
A: GTA VI will take place in a modernized version of Vice City and one other South American city, as far as we know. The player will start in one of these cities based on the character they select at the beginning of the game, apparently. A lot of recent GTA 6 news and leaks have all been pointing towards Vice City and Florida as locations in the game. However, due to a change in the development process, Rockstar may not be launching a full-blown map, but one that will expand and evolve over time through various DLCs.
We are really excited about GTA 6, and we can't wait to update you on everything about the upcoming GTA game.
What do you expect the most from Grand Theft Auto VI? Let us know in the comments below, and keep an eye on GTA Base for all GTA 6 news, GTA 6 rumors, and more!
