Since its release in 2013, Grand Theft Auto V has become one of the most successful media properties of all time. Part of that success is thanks to its many rereleases on next-generation hardware and the ongoing success of GTA Online. So it’s no wonder that fans of the series have been eagerly awaiting news of an upcoming sequel.

Well, that day has finally arrived, as Rockstar Games made an official announcement on 4 February 2022 confirming the speculation: the next Grand Theft Auto is in active development.

The publisher seemed to acknowledge the uncertainty over the series’s future since there has been a lot of focus on the success of GTA Online. It’s been nearly a decade since we saw a brand new Grand Theft Auto game, after all.

But we have seen plenty of new content for GTA Online, with the recent announcement of a subscription service for PS5 and Xbox series X/S users. This would suggest that the developer will be continuing to support the live service for the foreseeable future, meaning it could be a while before the next Grand Theft Auto hits the shelves.

With that being said, the confirmation from Rockstar Games is a good indicator that we can expect to hear more news at some point in the near future. And as such, we feel confident enough to make predictions based on our expertise and what we’ve learnt from previous releases.

To find out when we expect the next Grand Theft Auto to be released and where it could be set, keep reading the rest of the article below.

‘GTA 6’ announcement details

In a blog post titled “Grand Theft Auto Community Update”, Rockstar revealed its plans for another GTA release: “With the unprecedented longevity of GTAV, we know many of you have been asking us about a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series.

“With every new project we embark on, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we have previously delivered – and we are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway.

“We look forward to sharing more as soon as we are ready, so please stay tuned to the Rockstar Newswire for official details.

“On behalf of our entire team, we thank you all for your support and cannot wait to step into the future with you!”

Where will ‘GTA 6’ be set?

Needless to say, there will be further speculation about where the next Grand Theft Auto could take place. Most previous games have taken place in fictionalised versions of large American cities such as Liberty City (New York) and, more recently, Los Santos (Los Angeles).

Since GTA IV and GTA V have revisited both, respectively, we think there’s a strong likelihood that we will see the next outing return to Vice City, a fictionalised depiction of Miami, Florida.

After all, we haven’t seen a new version of Vice City since 2002’s Grand Theft Auto title of the same name. The game was recently remastered in the Definitive Edition trilogy to mixed reception, but a full recreation of the Magic City from the ground up could be an interesting new direction for the series.

What’s also notable about the original Vice City was that it took place in the Eighties as a pastiche homage to gangster films such as Scarface. Could we see GTA 6 taking place in a similar time setting? That’s slightly more unlikely. With the success of GTA Online, Rockstar Games would be looking to maintain the modernity that allows for content such as rocket bikes and spy cars for its online service that a four-decade-old setting would make difficult to justify.

But what other cities might we see Rockstar revisit? London has also been a heavily rumoured location for the next setting of Grand Theft Auto, and it’s not as farfetched as it sounds. Before the series made its transition to 3D, there were two expansions released on the original game in 1997 and 1999, respectively. Our nation’s capital has always made its way into the rumour mill with each subsequent release, and the speculation around this setting appears no different, even if the prospect of pulling a heist in a black cab/double-decker bus does sound tempting.

When could we hear more about the ‘GTA 6’ release date?

Rockstar Games’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, had a conference call with investors on 16 May 2022. A slide from the meeting appears to show the gaming giant’s upcoming releases between 2023 and 2025. These include titles such as Marvel’s Midnight Suns, a new Tales From The Borderlands adventure, and a mobile port of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition. But there is still one glaring omission: GTA 6.

This could mean we might not see the new Grand Theft Auto until at least 2026 but there’s still a small ray of hope. At the bottom of the document, it clearly states that new releases will be added to this pipeline as soon as they are announced. Find out more about GTA 6’s possible delay in our original article.

Jason Schreier, a journalist from Bloomberg, has also estimated that we could expect to hear a more concrete announcement later this year with a release date set for 2023, before eventually being moved to the following year.

If we take a look at the announcement strategy and subsequent release schedule of Rockstar Games’ last major original release, Red Dead Redemption 2, it followed a similar pattern. It was first teased in October 2016 before the official announcement a day later, with a release scheduled for the second half of 2017. The game then saw two subsequent delays: firstly to early 2018 before finally being given an official release date of 26 October 2018.

If we hear more news about a trailer this year, such as at Summer Game Fest, this could be a good indicator of what to expect. We’ll be sure to keep you posted once we have more concrete information about the confirmed release of the next instalment.

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