Well, it’s official. Rockstar has finally announced that Grand Theft Auto 6 is definitely in the works, so at the very least, we know that another instalment in the phenomenally popular crime sandbox series is on the way. Unfortunately, Rockstar hasn’t revealed any further details about the game, so we don’t know too much else about what we can expect.
Happily, though, we do have some industry insider information that could tell us what the next Grand Theft Auto game is going to look like, as well as when it might be released and what kind of features we can expect from it. Here’s our rundown of what the Grand Theft Auto 6 PS5 release date might be, what kind of rumours are floating around about it, and the speculation the industry is indulging in.
When is the Grand Theft Auto 6 PS5 release date?
First, let’s talk about when we can expect Grand Theft Auto 6 to launch on PS5. The fact is that we are almost certainly a long, long way away from the game launching in any form. When it does, it will almost definitely launch on PS5 rather than hitting last-gen consoles, so don’t expect to be playing GTA 6 on your PS4.
If Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier is to be believed (and he usually is in these matters), then industry insiders are expecting Grand Theft Auto 6 to launch during Take-Two’s 2024 fiscal year. That means we’re probably at least two years away from a GTA 6 PS5 launch. The game could come out later than that, of course, but it almost certainly won’t appear sooner, so you probably won’t be able to play GTA 6 for a couple of years yet.
What will Grand Theft Auto 6’s main character be like?
According to Schreier, sources close to Rockstar have confirmed that GTA 6 will have a female main character for the first time in the series’ history (assuming that we’re not counting GTA Online, of course, or the original Grand Theft Auto, which allowed you to pick one of several female protagonists). She will purportedly be Latina, too, which would be another first for the franchise. Of course, without more concrete details, it’s difficult to pin down who she will be or what she will be trying to do in the game, so we’ll have to wait a little longer for that.
Where will GTA 6 be set?
We’re using the Schreier piece as our source again here, because Schreier is hugely reputable and we trust his information. According to his sources, GTA 6 was originally supposed to take place across a massive map with multiple cities, but development has been cut down to a “fictional version of Miami and its surrounding areas”. If that’s true, then we may well be visiting something akin to Vice City, although Schreier doesn’t name it as such in his piece.
Apparently, Rockstar also plans to incorporate more locations as time goes on, which speaks to another major change in GTA 6: it’s purportedly going to espouse more of a live-service direction this time, with new things continually being added to the game over time. This would be a major departure from the series’ single-player one-and-done history, although it would put GTA 6’s single-player mode more in line with GTA Online, which would make sense from a financial perspective.
What will GTA 6’s humour be like?
A huge part of the Grand Theft Auto franchise is its humour; fans have become enamoured with the series’ off-colour, ribald jokes, and although some have criticised the games for being immature (as well as the occasional moment of tonal whiplash like GTA 5’s torture scene), Grand Theft Auto is celebrated as much for its ridiculous humour and its supposedly equal-opportunities skewering of everyone as it is for its sandbox gameplay.
You might not want to get too comfortable with that humour, though, because according to Schreier, things are changing at Rockstar. A work culture once decried for its “frat boy” nature is now embracing more compassion and inclusivity, and writers on GTA 6 are apparently being directed towards more “punching up” jokes, meaning that you probably won’t see the same gags aimed at trans folks or ethnic minorities this time. That’s no bad thing in our opinion.
What will the story be like in GTA 6?
We don’t have a huge amount of information about the story in GTA 6 right now, with Rockstar playing their cards very close to their chest for obvious reasons. If Schreier is correct, then what we do know is that the GTA 6 story will revolve around the aforementioned Latina main character, and that she will be a part of a duo of bank robbers inspired by Bonnie and Clyde. As such, the game will probably revolve around their relationship.
If you ask us, this could be Rockstar’s opportunity to put right the rather lacklustre and flawed story of GTA 5, which felt like it was struggling to balance its cautionary tale of crime gone wrong and its more wacky sense of humour. If GTA 6 is a more serious, more straightforward affair, then we think that could well work in its favour; an approach that goes back to the darker, grittier style of GTA 4 could be just what the series needs to re-establish itself as the best single-player crime sandbox experience around.
