Grand Theft Auto VI (Fall 2025)

[Happenstance]

I prefer the simplicity of the GTA III and Vice City maps, actually learning them and knowing where I wanted to go instead of following the gps but I still loved playing V and never really thought of the map as too big. It was nice to just be able to drive from one end to the other a lot of the time, not really doing much.

[Julius]

It's official: trailer to come early December, marking the 25th anniversary of Rockstar Games. 

Really curious to see how this shapes up, and what their plans are for launch with the balance between story and online. As someone who has put hundreds of hours into GTA Online with my friends since COVID hit, I really just hope the character creator is insane. Baldur's Gate III didn't even knock it out of the park, I feel, but felt like a big step up from most customisation opportunities found in games these days. 

4 hours ago, Happenstance said:

I prefer the simplicity of the GTA III and Vice City maps, actually learning them and knowing where I wanted to go instead of following the gps but I still loved playing V and never really thought of the map as too big. It was nice to just be able to drive from one end to the other a lot of the time, not really doing much.

I haven't completed the story in a single GTA game but I did grow up playing a few GTA-likes and of course have spent time with Online, and can totally see where you're coming from. I love driving up from the airport to the peak of Mount Chiliad every session 

Everything around how they've talked about GTA VI to me suggests that it might be reined in a bit in terms of scaling things up when it comes to map size, which I'd much prefer to see coupled with more interior locations. 

Red Dead Redemption II really hit that sweet spot for me of a massive open world with enough going on and interior detail to boot. 

[drahkon]

So...trailer at The Game Awards?

Edited November 8, 2023 by drahkon

[Julius]

1 minute ago, drahkon said:

So...trailer at The Game Awards?

That's the big question I guess, and I think cases are easy to make for it turning up or skipping the show. TGAs are taking place December 7th, for anyone wondering. 

If it's turning up at an event? Sure, I mean TGAs have been growing year-on-year and it'd have a massive live audience, and it's the only big live event scheduled for December, so yeah, TGAs would make sense. 

But then it's Rockstar, they don't need TGAs in the exact same way they didn't need to turn up at E3, and it would almost certainly overshadow just about every announcement made at TGAs. If I'm remembering right, I don't even think Red Dead Redemption II turned up to a single event for any of its trailers or gameplay to be shown? 

The game could shadow drop tomorrow with no marketing and crush records, so if it does turn up at TGAs, I'd see it as somehow being a token of supporting Geoff and the TGAs more than any considered marketing practice, because it doesn't need it. If anything, I think the kinder thing for them to do would be to release the trailer a few days ahead of TGAs, because the pressure the show would suddenly find itself under would be immense - not only potentially overshadowing everything else, but what if it's not there? It'd be one hell of a "one more thing", but I'd be surprised if that's GTA VI instead of Shadow of the Erdtree.

If it is part of the show/that day, it might be the case that it's released hours ahead of time and then included as one of the opening trailers to the show – it's out of the way then, while getting more eyes on TGAs, counterproductive as that may seem to have it first it's the much smarter option imo. 

Hell, if it's not going to be there, I'd be shocked if Geoff doesn't come out and say so before the show 

[bob]

I'll believe it when I see it.

[Cube]

Hopefully Rockstar can go back to being about fun. It's been over a decade since I last enjoyed one of their games.

[martinist]

I expect to be in my fifties when 7 comes out.

I play the GTA games for the stroy and the sandbox stuff. After that theres nothing for me.

Never touched 5 after i finished the story. Might have wondered around and did some side stuff but thats about it.

After they introduced the GTA online stuff and monitized the shit out of the game I lost all interest.

Hopefully 6 is better but I'm heavily doubting it. They're going to milk this for all its worth and by the looks of it it's worth a hell of a lot.

[drahkon]

22 hours ago, Julius said:

I think cases are easy to make for it turning up or skipping the show.

Yeah, pretty much.

I hope they release the trailer on their own terms 30 minutes after TGA started.

[Hero-of-Time]

 

 

[Julius]

4 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

 

That's 14:00 GMT and a very accessible release time internationally, around the time in the day of a good few E3 conferences of old. Will be surprised if it's not shown at the TGAs Thursday night at some point. 

More than anything with VI, just not knowing much about what they're actually doing with it, I'm most curious to see how they market this. I think Red Dead II's first trailer was a little over a minute from what I remember, which would seem perfect for this, and looking it up GTA V's was just under a minute and a half – but I wonder if they'll give any thought to short-form video platforms like Instagram Stories, YouTube Shorts and TikTok, and so squeeze this into 60 seconds or less? I guess they could always get special cuts but doing something like that would definitely be along the lines of PlayStation just dropping the PS5 logo on Instagram to make it as shareable as possible. 

But then it's also seemingly much further along and closer to release than either of those games were when first officially shown off (if those financial projections are anything to go by), so maybe they do shake things up a bit more with a longer trailer (I doubt it for the shareable reasons, but still, I think it's worth considering).

Also curious to see if Online gets any attention in this trailer considering just how big it is now, but I think that might be best saved for a deep dive when first shown (and, please, an outrageously good character creator!). 

Roll on Tuesday 

Edited December 1, 2023 by Julius

[drahkon]

Looking forward to it.
This is going to break the internet.

What are we thinking regarding the game's release?

End of 2024?

[Julius]

2 hours ago, drahkon said:

This is going to break the internet.

Already anticipating waking up on Wednesday morning to "the most viewed trailer in 24 hours...ever" 

2 hours ago, drahkon said:

What are we thinking regarding the game's release?

End of 2024?

Yeah, I think the end of 2024 is the best bet, and with GTA V releasing in September and Red Dead Redemption II in October, I have to imagine it'll be September/October again. It's going to be really interesting to see games hold out for/move their release date when we learn the game's release date, that's for sure! 

The truth is though that the game could shadow drop tomorrow with no advertising and break records by Monday, so honestly, they really could drop it whenever. As a trailer and marketing lover, though: please don't do that, Rockstar 

[Dcubed]

I genuinely wonder if Rockstar could get away with selling their own console/PC hardware with GTA 6 being exclusive to it…

We’re talking about a likely 200+ million seller here.  That’s more than the total software sales of many actual console platforms.  Would also mean that they don’t have to share profits with any platform holder…

[Sheikah]

I genuinely wonder if Rockstar could get away with selling their own console/PC hardware with GTA 6 being exclusive to it…
We’re talking about a likely 200+ million seller here.  That’s more than the total software sales of many actual console platforms.  Would also mean that they don’t have to share profits with any platform holder…

That would be suicide, people aren't going to spend several hundred just for one game.

[Helmsly]

The Trailer leaked on Twitter/X about five minutes ago so Rockstar North have decided to release it officially, ahead of schedule, just now  

Edited December 4, 2023 by Helmsly

[drahkon]

On 12/1/2023 at 10:30 PM, drahkon said:

What are we thinking regarding the game's release?

End of 2024?

Looks like I was being optimistic.

Well...there it is. The trailer that might break the internet.
To be honest, it didn't do much for me. Then again, if trailers don't show gameplay these days they never do much for me

Somehow I doubt these are in-game graphics. If they are, current consoles will struggle with 30fps. Happy to be proven wrong, though.

Edited December 4, 2023 by drahkon

[Julius]

Death, taxes, and leaks. 

After all the nonsense over the weekend with Rob Garbut's son('s friend? alleged friend?) and the leaks way back of alpha footage, seems like this game just can't catch a break. 

2025 is definitely further out than I think we all expected, especially off the back of the Take Two shareholder stuff earlier this year, but, well, can't exactly say I'm short of games to play, so I'm happy to wait as long as needed, especially seeing as the culture at Rockstar has reportedly been shaken up quite a bit since Red Dead Redemption II's launch and crunch in the build-up to said launch. I'm hoping that this is just a case of them doing right by their people if it's not just simply a case of wanting to make sure the game releases in the best state possible. 

1 hour ago, Helmsly said:

The Trailer leaked on twitter/X about five minutes ago so rockstar north just released it officially, ahead of schedule, just now  

Definitely a shame it leaked, but absolutely the right move to just drop the trailer: once it was out there, in any form, it was out there for good, and they might as well own it and immediately take the power away from the leaker/s. 

These two minutes will always be the perfect characterisation of leakers to me, in no way do leakers like these ever deserve the two seconds of highs they're looking for. 

58 minutes ago, drahkon said:

To be honest, it didn't do much for me. Then again, if trailers don't show gameplay these days they never do much for me

Neither, though I personally don't know what they could've shown me to bowl me over with GTA VI. It's not like I have any attachment to Vice City or any real attachment to the other GTA games either, so you'd need to wow me with gameplay, which like you said, they just didn't want to show off here  which is probably the right call. They've at least got the Miami vibe down and parodied as much as it needs to be in this day and age, and I'm very curious about the decision of having a female protagonist who is a person of colour while then also having a kinda generic looking white guy as the other protag. 

I do kind of adore the cut at 60s with the drum beat and the guy going through the table, though  and I do like their music choice here, as I always seem to with their games and trailers, even if I will 100% be blasting The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again the entire time I play this game (thanks, CSI: Miami)! 

I will commend them for at least using in-engine footage, though (even if it was most likely captured on PC). CGI trailers can be great for setting the tone in very rare instances for insanely hyped games, but otherwise, I find it laughable just how many publishers try to get away with them in the AAA space. I think it's sad that they've had a mini resurgence of sorts since COVID, it feels like we're sliding back to 2016 in one too many ways for my liking. 

Red Dead Redemption II's first trailer blows this one out of the water, for me 

For those who have watched it, what would you rate it /10?

I think it's a solid 7 – gets the job done, hints at some gameplay elements and raises some questions (dual protags? potential further interaction with vehicles besides just standing on top of them or sitting in them? potential further ways to interact with NPCs suggested by the stick-up?), solid track choice, but doesn't really do anything to blow me away. It sets the tone for me that this game and it's marketing isn't going to look to overcomplicate and over promise – and that's exactly where we should be with the game over a year out and promising to break records anyways. 

58 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Somehow I doubt these are in-game graphics. If they are, current consoles will struggle with 30fps. Happy to be proven wrong, though.

It's hard to say without having a HUD up (or at least a playable camera angle?) and almost certainly running on PC, but I actually think this not feeling mind-melting in any way is a good sign that it's going to be not too far off from what we end up with.

Some aesthetic choices aside and it being set in the modern day, it doesn't look like a huge leap from Red Dead Redemption II – maybe just a single step up the ladder, mainly from increased onscreen population (seeing way more people in one place than I remember ever really seeing in the whole of RDR2) and other things like vehicle speed vs horses calling for faster load-in of assets and textures, etc. This seems to me that it's more like a sidestep to focus on what's under the hood of this engine in terms of interactivity with NPCs and so on. The amount of crocodiles turning up also just had me going "well, now that I think about it, Miami makes PERFECT sense if you're building off the fauna in Red Dead II!"

Personally, I'll be shocked if this isn't locked 30 fps (or thereabouts) on current consoles, simply because Rockstar seems like it's the kind of studio full of perfectionists.

Anything more than that is going to be saved for the next-gen and next-next-gen remasters, of course 

Edited December 5, 2023 by Julius

[Helmsly]

51 minutes ago, Julius said:

Definitely a shame it leaked, but absolutely the right move to just drop the trailer: once it was out there, in any form, it was out there for good, and they might as well own it and immediately take the power away from the leaker/s.

yeah, once it leaked there wasn't much they could do other then release it officially ahead of the scheduled time they had originally intended to release it.

And yeah, like the video you linked to mentioned, these leaks are almost always about online clout. Even worse in this case because the guy who uploaded it had "BUY $BTC" in large letters obscuring the middle of the screen lol:

 

I never thought I would see a tweet like this from them Rockstar:

 

Edited December 5, 2023 by Helmsly

[Hero-of-Time]

39 million views after only 6 hours. People be thirsty for the next GTA.

Very happy with the return to Vice City but other than that I'm not too fussed. I just think I'm past the age of being able to enjoy these games anymore.

 

 

[Happenstance]

I'm sure I'll enjoy it when I actually play it but I never particularly get excited from GTA trailers. It was the same with IV and V.

[Julius]

A couple more details about the game courtesy of Take Two's press release, including that the games are first coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S:

Quote

Rockstar Games®, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), is proud to announce that Grand Theft Auto VI is coming to PlayStation® 5 computer entertainment systems and Xbox Series X|S games and entertainment systems in 2025.

[...]

"Grand Theft Auto VI continues our efforts to push the limits of what's possible in highly immersive, story-driven open-world experiences," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "We're thrilled to be able to share this new vision with players everywhere."

Grand Theft Auto VI heads to the state of Leonida, home to the neon-soaked streets of Vice City and beyond in the biggest, most immersive evolution of the Grand Theft Auto series yet.

Not really a surprise that it's dodging PC at launch considering Rockstar's launch history. 

Back at the end of October an 11-page patents file was discovered relating to the game's development from earlier in the year (Kotaku), and someone on Reddit put it into layman's terms:

Quote

Based on this patent, it seems like they’re using a clever system. They’ve built a library of small building blocks for character movements. These blocks can be combined in various ways to create a wide range of animations. For instance, think about a character in the game walking in the rain, feeling tired, or getting injured. Instead of designing separate animations for each of these situations, they use these building blocks to put together the character’s movements naturally. This means GTA 6 can have more diverse and lifelike animations. So, when you play GTA 6, you’ll see characters moving in ways that match the weather, their energy level, and their injuries. This makes the game feel more immersive. It’s like having characters that can adapt to different situations, making the game world feel more real and thrilling.

 

10 hours ago, Helmsly said:

Even worse in this case because the guy who uploaded it had "BUY $BTC" in large letters obscuring the middle of the screen lol:

I hate that this helps us to age the guy who uploaded it more than anything 

10 hours ago, Helmsly said:

I never thought I would see a tweet like this from them Rockstar:

It's definitely crazy to see them so casually being all "uh, guys, over here please?" and have it be a guaranteed top Twitter post in terms of interaction 

[drahkon]

26 minutes ago, Julius said:

PlayStation® 5 computer entertainment systems

[Dcubed]

Well, I mean, there IS a digital and a physical PS5 model; you could always buy it twice 

[Julius]

Unsurprisingly, the trailer for the game has reached 60 million views in just 12 hours on YouTube, already breaking the 24 hour record for a non-music video (previously held by Mr Beast, which was 46 million views for a video in August of this year), and is currently tracking to break the 24 hour record for any video (the record is 108 million for Dynamite by BTS). 

Not surprising, but crazy stuff. Also, side note, I knew South Korea had been flexing it's soft power of late (Blackpink got MBEs the other week?), but I didn't realise that 9 (!!!) of the current top 10 most viewed videos in 24 hours are by K-Pop groups (BTS and Blackpink; the odd one out is Taylor Swift at #9). That's wild. 

Anyways, watched the trailer a few more times, and it's grown on me. It might be an 8. Still nothing absolutely mind-blowing after Red Dead Redemption II, I don't think, but it just raises so many questions. Like, are pets a thing? It looks like pets are a thing? If so – is that our pet 'gator busting into that convenience store?! 

3 hours ago, drahkon said:

In all seriousness, though, and there only being one PS5 out there aside: the Pro is rumoured for and expected by the end of next year, so...probably get 30+ fps on that thing? I'd be shocked if this game ran at 60 fps on that thing, but then again, Cerny pulled off some pretty crazy things with the PS4 Pro, so maybe he'll sauce this one up real nice too. 

Edited December 5, 2023 by Julius

[Ashley]

6 hours ago, Dcubed said:

Well, I mean, there IS a digital and a physical PS5 model; you could always buy it twice 

It'll also be out on the PS6 and PS7 so you could buy it many times over.