Rockstar celebrates the tenth anniversary of Grand Theft Auto V with GTA Online special event

Recently, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick mentioned that the company is expecting a major game release in fiscal year 2025 (which runs from April 2024 to March 2025) that will generate around $8 billion in sales. Many fans assume that it would be GTA VI as it is the only title in Take-Two's entire lineup capable of generating a that much money for the company.

Just last week, a supposed audio recording of Strauss Zelnick seemingly leaking the reveal and launch dates of GTA VI was making rounds on social media. The audio clip, re-shared by the GTA VI_Countdown account, featured the voice of Zelnick saying that GTA VI will be revealed on October 23, 2023, while the launch is scheduled for October 2024.

The original audio clip was allegedly taken down at the request of Rockstar, suggesting that it may be real. Fans have called the authenticity of the audio recording into question. Many believe that it was not Zelnick speaking but just a recreation using artificial intelligence or other means.

Skeptics point to a part of the recording where Zelnick refers to the game as "VI" instead of "six". Several of our writers reviewed the recording and we have concluded that it does sound incredibly like Zelnick. However, the "VI" bit comes across as a bit strange.

Another thing that is out of character is that Zelnick often lets teams speak for themselves. He has often handed off discussions regarding games to the teams directly working on them. Rockstar often announces upcoming games and events themselves with very limited participation from the Take-Two CEO.

So, will we be getting a big announcement next week for Grand Theft Auto VI? The likelihood is slim to none at all which may be frustrating for fans waiting on the upcoming game for years now. For context, in the eight years after the release of GTA 3, nine other games and expansions in the series were launched - but now we're nearly past 10 years of just GTA 5 and nothing new.

There is an off chance that Rockstar will pull out a surprise but it is extremely unlikely. Activision Blizzard recently had a global in-game reveal for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 within Warzone and it was announced a month before the event took place.

It will be a matter of time before we get an announcement or reveal event for Grand Theft Auto VI. Rockstar and Take-Two have traditionally avoided shows like The Game Awards, preferring not to share spotlight. Zelnick has teased that Rockstar wants "nothing short of perfection" with GTA VI and the studio aims to give players "something you've never seen before."

"I think that's the challenge that the folks at Rockstar face every time that there is a new iteration of Grand Theft Auto. It needs to be something you've never seen before," Zelnick said. "And it needs to reflect the feeling that we have about Grand Theft Auto--that's a big challenge for the team. Rockstar's answer is seek perfection. Seek nothing short of perfection, and we'll get there."

GTA 5 turns 10 this weekend.